Of Magic and Chakra
by RASENGAN087
Summary: At the age of ten Naruto was given his very first letter. A letter from Hogwarts. Now he goes to learn of magic and make new friends. How will this affect his life? Read and find out.
1. Prologue

**Welcome one and all to my second multi-chapter story and one I plan to be epic. For those of you who can't already tell, I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. HOWEVER, I do own my OCs. Other than that I got nothing else to say except enjoy and please review. That helps me to update faster and lets me know people are interested.**

**INFO:**

**Title: Of Magic and Chakra**

**Summary: At the age of ten Naruto was given his very first letter. A letter from Hogwarts. Now he goes to learn of magic and make new friends. How will this affect his life? Read and find out.**

**EDIT 7-7-09: Just merged first three chapters into one. Took out some grammer errors too. In all honesty it looks way longer then you'd think and better.**

**Prologue**

"What do you mean he's a wizard?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was laced with disbelief. Although this could be excused considering that it wasn't everyday a heavily dressed man teleported into your office and introduced himself as 'Albus Percival Wulfred Brian Dumbledore', and at the same time somehow magically conjured a chair out of thin air with a wave of some sort of stick.

"I mean exactly what I said." Albus Dumbledore answered, an amused smile plastered on his face. "Naruto Uzumaki, or Uzumaki Naruto as you refer to him, is a wizard and as such eligible to attend Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A school where he will be able to learn how to control his powers and make friends with others of his kind."

The old Hokage suddenly felt the urge to stab a kunai through the man's head if only to wipe that infuriating smile off of his face, once and for all, but instead opted to ask another question:

"Who are you?"

Dumbledore smiled. He considered whether or not to continue getting on the old Hokage's nerves but then decided it was time to get down to business.

"As I have already explained to you, I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school created especially for the magically gifted. I have come to you with the proposal of a student position in our school for young Naruto." Dumbledore paused for a moment to let this sink in before continuing. "I am more than willing to answer any questions that you may have on this matter."

Sarutobi nodded and Dumbledore steadied himself for the barrage of questions:

"What exactly does your school teach?"

"More or less everything that has to do with the magical arts. Everything from potion-brewing to levitation charms. Students would start off generally but branch off in their later school years."

"Where is it located?"

"In Scotland, a place very far away from the elemental countries; beyond the ocean in fact. Do not worry, we have very safe and quick methods of transportation to send him there and get him back."

"And how long does he have to stay there?"

"For about ten months a year. Although, he may choose to return home for the holidays."

"I assume you know of his jinchuuriki status," Receiving a nod, Sarutobi continued, "Then how in the name of the Shodaime do you expect me to simply hand him over to you to go to a place far beyond my reach for ten months a year! This action is completely unprecedented!"

"Actually," Dumbledore interrupted, the infuriating smile still on his lips, "I can think of one such past circumstance."

The look on Sarutobi's face demanded answers.

"Kushina Uzumaki," was Dumbledore's simple response, though it seemed effective enough as the Hokage's face immediately turned to one of shock. "Naruto's mother went to Hogwarts in her childhood. I would like to think she would want her son to follow in her footsteps."

Sarutobi was in shock. Unable to speak for several seconds before the one thing he could think of escaped his lips:

"How did you know that?"

Dumbledore waved a wrinkled hand dismissively, "Ah well, you see, one normally does try to keep up with their favourite students after graduation, especially if that student was one of the most gifted witches to ever enter Hogwarts. Tragic she died through childbirth, though."

The look on Dumbledore's face was one of true sorrow; he truly was saddened by Kushina's death or was doing a very good job pretending.

Another thought him. He knew if the council were here they would immediately push him to agree, The sheer amount of knowledge and ability which could come from this would be a great asset to Konoha in the long run. As he already knew Naruto had aspirations to become a shinobi and would no doubt become a fine one, but with the power of magic…One could only dream of what Naruto would be capable of, considering how powerful of a shinobi Kushina was.

Sarutobi steeled himself for his response.

"I accept your offer, but only under several conditions." Dumbledore did not look surprised. "One, he _will _come back to Konoha during the break."

Dumbledore nodded in silent agreement.

"Two, he is still allowed to become a shinobi."

Dumbledore once again nodded.

"Three, I will send a private guard with him until I deem your school safe enough for him."

Another nod.

"And, finally, it shall be up to him whether or not to attend."

This was given a nod and a smile. Dumbledore seemed satisfied that the old Hokage was going to give Naruto's opinion some value.

Sarutobi nodded as well before giving a snap of his fingers. Two ANBU guards immediately appeared. Sarutobi noted that Dumbledore seemed slightly surprised at the speed and efficiency of the guards but managed to maintain a nonchalant look before he turned to the ANBU.

"Bring me Uzumaki Naruto."

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!"

That was the first thing Naruto said upon entering the Hokage's office. Of course, this in turn earned him a groan from Sarutobi and a surprised but pleasant look from a strangely dressed man he could not recognize.

"Naruto…" Sarutobi groaned exasperatedly, "…You're not in trouble."

He resisted the urge to groan once again when Naruto gave him a sceptical look. Really, why couldn't the boy go through ten seconds without giving the Hokage a migraine?

Dumbledore, on the other hand, just continued to look amused.

"Naruto this is Dumbledore. He is a powerful wizard from far away and comes here with an offer for you." At this point he chose to look towards Dumbledore for help. This was a wise choice considering Naruto's perplexed look which did not bother to hide the conerns the boy had on the Hokage's sanity.

"Naruto," Dumbledore started, nodding towards the Hokage's very grateful look, "I am from a very special school for the gifted. You see Naruto, you are a wizard. And as such are invited to attend my school." Expectedly this explanation met with another sceptical look from the 10- year old boy.

"Prove it." Was the only thing he said.

Smiling Dumbledore pointed his wand at the chair he was minutes ago sitting on. After a small wave of his wand , the next thing Naruto saw was a fluttering of wings, Dumbledore smile widened at the look of childish wonder on Naruto's face as he stared wide-eyed at the doves.

"Whoa." Was all he could get out. Sarutobi chuckled.

"At my school, you will be able to learn this and more alongside your peers and friends, should you except. The choice is yours."

Naruto's first instinct was to bob his head up and down at such a speed that it would most likely fall off, but a darker thought flashed through his head.

"But how will I get shinobi training. Does this mean I can't become a ninja?" He asked worriedly.

"Not at all! You may still become one if you wish!" Dumbledore reassured. It was at this point Sarutobi decided to step in.

"With your new magical skills you will most likely be able to take on any gennin. In fact, I plan on sending private tutors with you to keep you up to date with the shinobi arts." He wisely chose to leave out that they would also be acting as bodyguards.

After Naruto immediately brighten up and attack Dumbledore with a barrage of questions, Sarutobi turned towards the silent ANBU.

_Who to call in? _

Seconds after the thought the answer immediately hit him.

"Bring me Kakashi and Genma." The ANBU saluted before vanishing and Sarutobi turned back to the conversation at hand.

"…and those that can't us magic are known as muggles."

"Were my parents' muggles?" Naruto asked

"I remember your mother telling me your father was a muggle and she herself was a pure-blood. By wizard terms, you would be a half-blood wizard.

"You knew my mother?" Naruto asked, surprised,

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore smiled, "Kushina Uzumaki was an exceptionally gifted witch. Talented and extremely popular as well. Best chaser Gryffindor has ever had for a century in my opinion! People will be expecting a lot from you once they hear she is your mother you should know."

"What about my father?" Naruto asked expectantly.

"Unfortunately, I did not know much about him…" Seeing Naruto's disappointment Dumbledore quickly added,"But what I do know is that he was on of the many heroes who died protecting you village from the Nine-Tailed Fox attack years ago. Both of your parents were great people, Naruto. Do not allow anyone to tell you differently."

Sarutobi smiled as he silently watched their conversation. Dumbledore was proving to not be such a bad person, at the very least. And because the students had no knowledge of the demon he doubted Naruto would be shunned or hated.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of his private guard's voice.

"Hokage-sama, they're here."

**

* * *

**"You're kidding right?" Genma's deadpan voice cut through the then silent room. Kakashi nodded, seeming to hold the same opinion as his friend.

"No, I am not." Sarutobi grinned. He was clearly enjoying this. "You two are to accompany Naruto in his adventures in the wizarding world. And while you are there you two are to provide as Naruto's private tutors in ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu."

"You expect me to believe in any of this." Genma's once again deadpanned, Even Kakashi found it difficult not to look at the Hokage like he had grown a second head.

As if on cue Dumbledore tapped the chair in front of him and once again it transfigured into a flock of doves. Naruto was no less surprised and even more awed then he was the first time.

This of course led to total chaos. After several minutes of "KAI!" and Kakashi activating his sharingan over and over again, Kakashi decided to speak.

"That doesn't prove anything." Was all Kakashi could get out.

"Perhaps if I did it to you?" Dumbledore offered with an amused twinkle in his eye.

A pause.

"Okay…magic is real…" Although even as he said it his disbelieving voice betrayed the statement, "…What if we refuse this mission?"

"Then it's a years worth of D-Rank missions for the both of you." Was Sarutobi's simple answer. Ignoring the two, now gaping, jounin he turned back to Dumbledore. "Then I suppose that's all. Thank you for your trouble Dumbledore."

"No trouble at all, Sarutobi."

Dumbledore beamed, before turning to Naruto. " I will see in a month, Mr. Uzumaki. Before I leave allow me to leave behind a present for you." With that he handed Naruto a book entitled _A Modern History of Magic_. "It should keep you up to date with all that has happened in the wizarding world for a while now. I suggest you study the most recent events first."

He smiled at Naruto's look of shock, which slowly morphed into gratitude as he repeatedly thanked Dumbledore, who bemusedly accepted.

"I'll be sending somebody to escort these three nearing the end of August. Have a good day, Sarutobi. Goodbye."

With that said there was a loud crack and Dumbledore had vanished.

* * *

Sarutobi allowed a smile to grace his features as he watched Naruto's retreating back through the window, He could make a great asset to the village in the future, indeed. Not only that, it would be good for him to be somewhere without the fear and resentment of the villagers…

Snapping his head out of those dark thoughts he surveyed his now empty office; Kakashi and Genma having long since left after giving their affirmative.

A sigh escaped his lips. Naruto had agreed. Kakashi and Genma were on board. Dumbledore had arranged for somebody to come by and escort the three. The easy part was over; the hard part was about to start.

It was time to inform the council.

**

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	2. Welcome to Hogwarts

**This is the new and improved extra edited chapter two. Enjoy.**

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Back-to-School Shopping

"I am Severus Snape."

Severus Snape, as he had now been introduced, was a relatively thin man with pale skin and a large, hooked nose. His frigid black eyes glared towards them in a distant, standoffish way, while his thin-lipped mouth chose to present itself as a distasteful frown.

Sarutobi simply smiled at the newcomer who had just arrived. It had been nearly a month since Konoha's visit from Dumbledore and he had nearly forgotten Naruto's guide would be arriving today.

Kakashi on the other hand did not even seem to even notice the newcomer. Seemingly ignoring everything and everyone around him, he stared down intently at the book in his hand.

Genma, however, was peering scrutinisingly at the visitor. He seemed to be contemplating whether or not to greet him. After several seconds the jounin settled for a fairly lazy nod and instead focused his concentration to chewing his senbon.

Naruto's reaction was a completely different story, on the other hand. Wide-eyed and excited the ten-year old couldn't seem to stay still. His greeting was yelled and accompanied by a face of childish wonder and awe.

"Greetings," Snape continued, nodding to each of them (sans Kakashi, who he promptly ignored), "I am a professor at the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As per Headmaster Dumbledore's orders, I am to escort Naruto Uzumaki to Diagon Alley for his Hogwarts supplies." He turned to the blond staring at him escitedly. "I assume you are him?"

Naruto nodded.

"Very well, then. When you are all ready grab onto this piece of rope." He motioned to a piece of rope in his hand. "When you are ready." He called again, slightly annoyed none of them had moved an inch, instead opting to stare at him incredelously.

After several seconds hesitation, Kakashi and Genma had their hands grasping the piece of rope along with Snape. All three then looked towards the fourth member of the party who was currently completing his farewell to the Hokage. After several seconds and hushed whispers, the blond ran forward and grabbed the rope.

* * *

Naruto was in awe. How could he not be? Though it had only been several hours since his arrival to Diagon Alley and all he had done was listen to Snape explain the magical society to him and his companions, but that had been an amazing enough of an experience for the child to wow him completely.

Kakashi and Genma seemed to be equally impressed with what they had seen and were not afraid to ask questions when they were given the opportunity.

"You have an entire society hidden from the rest of the world?" Genma inquired, genuinely impressed.

Snape simply smirked.

"Yes. We live apart from the muggles and operate separately from them. Although, I must admit, your kind is impressive as well, considering you too have hid yourselves from the world."

"We have?" Genma confusedly replied.

"You land has at the very least. We wizards had not discovered it until centuries ago. Even then we dared not to enter the land of savages."

"Savages?" Genma narrowed his eyes.

"War. Assassination. Death. Those are a shinobi's trades are they not?" Snape responded coldly.

"How did you not find us until so soon?" Kakashi interjected, attempting to change the tone of the conversation.

"Some sort of extremely potent magic was placed on the land. It is that very same magic which makes it invisible to those outside of it's proximity. To this day the non-magical can not see it."

"But you wizards can?"

"After weakening it to a certain extent. Don't ask me how, I honestly don't know nor am I interested in finding out. But with that aside are you ready for the rest of your supplies?"

Naruto nodded before an uneasy thought hit him. "Err…Snape-sensei?"

"Professor Snape." Snape corrected.

"Right… Professor Snape," Naruto continued fearfully, " I…kind of don't have any money at all."

"Not to worry. We will go to the bank and borrow some money from your account."

"But I don't have an account!" Naruto nearly yelled, panic running to him.

"No, you do not," at this point Naruto looked ready to cry, "But your mother does."

Confusion was etched onto Naruto's face as Snape continued his explanation, Genma and Kakashi watched silently.

"And as her sole living heir, you gain possession of everything in her account if anything were to happen to her." With that Severus Snape turned around and motioning to a large building.

"That is why we are headed to Gringotts."

* * *

"All this is mine?"

For the second time in one day Naruto was dumbstruck. Even he two jounin with him looked like their eyes were going to pop out of their heads.

Kushina Uzumaki's vault was massive filled from top to bottom with gold and expensive-looking objects. One could not go three full steps without tripping over a fancy looking sword or a pile of gold.

"The Uzumakis were a fairly old pure-blooded family. One of the oldest in fact and as such were extremely rich, even for pure-blood standards. However, nearly two centuries ago they made the choice to move into your land, the Elemental countries. I am unaware of what happened to them from that point on but what I do know is that there is only one known direct descendant of them today and he is standing in this vault." Snape explained.

As such, Naruto did the one thing a ten year old would do in a situation like this.

"Yippeeeee!" with a whoop of joy Naruto proceeded to cannonball himself into a pile of gold.

Kakashi and Genma were stunned. Neither of them had ever seen that much gold in one place before.

"Is this really safe? I mean this much gold in one place!" Kakashi questioned, motioning to Naruto who was now attempting to make snow angels in the gold.

"Gringotts is perhaps the safest place in the world." Snape answered firmly. "Except for Hogwarts." He added with an afterthought.

"And all of this is Naruto's?" Genma was just as incredulous as Kakashi was.

"Yes. Though he can not take much of it until he becomes of age, he still pertains an annual allowance of one hundered galleons a year. Considering that he is eleven he has more then a thousand galleons saved up. It is all his though. That means you do not touch."

Genma glared. "I wasn't going to take any."

Ignoring him, Snape turned to Naruto. "We don't have all day. Are you done?"

He received a nod.

"Good. Then let's get started on your supplies. We will go for your wand first."

* * *

Naruto could not help but grin as the man he presumed to be Ollivander, the owner of the Wand Shop complete his conversation with Snape and turn to him.

"Do I get to choose any one of them? They are the things that make people do magic, right?" Naruto inquired.

"Why, yes. Yes they are. But obtaining a wand is slightly complex than just choosing one." Ollivander responded.

"You mean I can't get a super powerful one?" Disappointment was evident in his voice.

Ollivander smiled. " Tell me, my boy what do you see when you look around?"

"A bunch of boxes." Was Naruto simple reply.

"That is correct. And inside of each of these boxes is a focusing tool used that enhances a wizard's abilities. Otherwise known as a wand. Among these many wands is a wand that was made for you before you even existed. That wand knows your magic better then you know it yourself! It is that wand that will decide whether or not you become a great wizard. It is not you who chooses the wand; the wand chooses you."

Naruto frowned. "You're talking about them like wands are alive. Are they?"

Ollivander chuckled. "Should you choose to pursue a career in wandlore you just may find the answer to that question, but now shall we move onto your search for a wand?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, putting aside all thoughts on the topic and concentrating his energy into finding his own wand. He watched Ollivander roam about the shop, pulling out boxes, peeking inside them, shaking his head, and putting them away. Before he knew it, the strange little man had shoved a thin, smooth wand in his hand.

"Eight-inches holly, demiguise hair; a transfiguration-specialty wand. Go on, give it a wave."

Naruto waved it and felt a burning in his hand but nothing else happened. Ollivander frowned, took the wand away and returned with another, motioning him to try it.

"11 inches willow , hippogriff talon; great for charms work."

Again nothing. Ollivander frowned and continued his search.

This lasted for several minutes before he returned with one more.

"10 inches Elder, Unicorn hair as its core; a very strange wand, but powerful nonetheless. It is made from a very dark and corrupted wood but its cure is for the purest of hearts. To obtain this wand one must be able to resist the temptations of the dark side."

Naruto gave it a wave and sure enough red sparks flew from it's tips.

"That's good, right?"

Ollivander smiled. "Yes and I do believe we have found your wand my boy!"

It was at this point Snape had chosen to interject.

"If that is all, we can go attend to Naruto's other supplies and book a room at the leaky cauldron for the night. Your payment is on the counter."

Ollivander nodded but gave one last piece of advice to Naruto before he left.

"My boy, there have been many who have wielded that wand and had fallen to the darkness. If it has chosen you then stay on your feet and never give in. That is my final piece of advice for you."

With that said, the man accepted the group's payment and thanks.

* * *

Naruto was nervous.

He had barely made it onto the train after all! He blamed Kakashi. Considering that the one-eyed asshole didn't bother to wake up until approximately one hour before they were to leave, that wasn't such a bad decision.

On the bright side he got to walk through a wall. That was cool.

But as soon as he entered the train Kakashi and Genma (who really wasn't that bad, considering he was the more likable of the two) ran off saying that "we'll be with Professor Snape gathering info".

And now he was all alone.

To top it off none of the other compartments were empty! And even when he did ask if he could sit there all he got was a "sorry, we're saving it for somebody" or "there won't be much room once our friends get back". Come on! This never would have happened if Kakashi had just chosen to wake up on time this morning!

Sighing, he turned to another compartment, one with a dark-haired boy and a redhead as he could see. There was plenty of room in there- enough for four more people! This was it! He was sitting in that compartment no matter what.

With very little hesitation he opened the door and quickly blurted out, "Can I sit here?"

The other two children who had been lost in their conversation seconds before looked surprised at his very sudden appearance.

Seconds later it was the redhead who had regained his sense of speech, "Sure, mate! Take a seat."

Naruto nodded and grinned, quickly cleaning away his surprised look. That was easier then he had thought it would be!

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He said, fully intent on making friends.

"Ron Weasley." Responded the redhead.

"Harry Potter." The dark-haired boy said.

"That sounds familiar…" It did! Where had he heard it before?

The redhead grinned. "It should! He's the saviour of the wizarding world!"

Naruto's head snapped up in comprehension.

"That's it! You toke out that Voldemort guy when you were a baby, right?"

Harry shrugged. "That's what they all say."

Ron on the other hand had a different atmosphere around him. "Blimey! You said his name!"

Naruto frowned, "Is that bad?"

"Yes! Saying it is supposed to bad luck!"

"Really? Uhh… my bad?"

It was at this point that Harry chose to intervene.

"Hey, Ron, why don't you tell me more about that Quiditch game you were talking about."

As Ron immediately changed the look on his face from frantic to excited, Naruto mouthed 'thank you' to Harry who, in turn, grinned.

"What's Quiditch?" Naruto asked. He only had a vague remembering of it from his book. Some sort of sport, wasn't it?

"What's Quiditch? What's Quiditch! Blimey! How can you not know what Quiditch is?" Ron asked horrifically.

"Some sort of sport, isn't it?"

Ron nodded and was about to continue when the compartment door creaked open.

"You wouldn't have happened to see a toad, have you?" Asked a bushy haired girl who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"No, not really." Naruto responded. "Who are you, by the way?"

"Hermione Granger." The girl answered firmly. "Are you going to introduce yourselves?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" She asked in a surprised but delighted tone. "I have read a lot about you in _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_! That was amazing, what you did! Defeating the Dark Lord when you were just a child!"

Harry shrugged. "Thanks, I guess."

"What house do you all expect to be?" Hermione asked.

Ron grinned. "Gryffindor, of course! That's where my entire family's gone! Although, I'd be happy to be anywhere other then Slytherin!"

Harry shrugged once again. "Any one of them sounds okay, I guess."

Naruto frowned, thinking back to what Professor Snape had told him about the houses.

"I don't really think I'm very Slytherin or Ravenclaw. But Gryffindor or Hufflepuff sounds good. What about you?"

Hermione gave a small frown of thought for several seconds before she responded.

"Gryffindor, I suppose. I've heard that that was Professor Dumbledore's house. Though Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…" She pondered.

Seconds after here answer Hermione's eye's widened .

"Oh no! Sorry, but I have to go find Neville! It was nice talking to you all! Goodbye."

With that said, she turned and walked away, the compartment door shutting behind her.

"Weird girl..." Ron remarked.

Naruto and Harry nodded.

"What where you saying about Quiditch." Naruto asked, attempted to restart their conversation.

This immediately worked, as Ron's face once again grew excited as he resumed their previously interrupted conversation.

"Well, there are four positions in the game. And that's keeper, chaser, beater and seeker. The job of the keeper is to…"

* * *

"Alrigh'. Firs' years, ya can come with me." The voice of what had to be the bulkiest man Naruto had ever seen boomed.

The soon-to-be students immediately followed.

Naruto and Ron both shared a look as the man greeted Harry.

"You know him?" They inquired in unison.

"That's Hagrid! He saved me from the Dursleys and told me I was a wizard." Harry said, grinning as the gigantic man winked at him.

Naruto frowned and was about to inquire more, but he was interrupted by the gruff sound of Hagrid's voice.

"Alrigh'. Four a boat. Don' worry, gian' squid won' eat ya."

Immediately forgetting about the current conversation, Naruto, Harry, Ron and most of the other students' shared and awed look as the gazed across the tremendous lake at the huge castle far beyond.

Throughout the entire ride all Naruto could do was stare at the castle, lost in his thoughts.

_This is it. I'm gonna be a wizard. And Hokage, while I'm at it! _He grinned and peered over at his friends, gazing expectedly ahead, all looking to see who would find the gate of the castle first. _And I've got friends too! Real ones…_

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the closest view one could get of the old castle. At this distance it was hard not be awed. If he could turn his head he would've seen the other three passengers of his boat were experiencing the same feeling.

They were once again saved from their thoughts by the sound of Hagrid's voice.

"Come on, up ya' go now. Ain't no time to be o' wastin'.

After that Naruto spent most his time chatting with Harry and Ron as they strolled up to the castle. In little time, though that was hard to tell considering how they had gotten lost in their conversation, they had reached the entrance to the Great Hall, as Hagrid explained it to be.

"Thank you, Hagrid." Came the voice of a woman whom Naruto could only describe as no-nonsense and _very _strict. Maybe he shouldn't prank _her_…

"First years." The woman's crisp voice sailed through the air once again. "I, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, welcome you to Hogwarts. While hope you will gain much from this institution, we must insist you remember that we have a strict application of the rules and if any students refuse to follow them then they may very well go home. Is that clear?"

The soon-to-be students all nodded.

"Good. Please wait here until you are called down for your sorting." With that she disappeared through the door.

Naruto turned to say something to Ron and Harry but was immediately interrupted by a scrawny-looking blond kid (though Harry was scrawnier) accompanied by two boys who looked very large for eleven year olds.

"I hear that Harry potter is in this year." The boy asked. "Is it true?"

"That would be me." Harry responded.

"Draco. Draco Malfoy." They boy continued, holding out his hand to shake. "Future Slytherin. I'm sure we can become very good friends in that house."

It was at this point that Ron snorted. Draco glared.

"Let me tell you something, Harry. Some wizarding families are better then others. It doesn't do you good to became associated with the wrong sort."

"And why would he need your help on that?" Naruto interjected.

Draco sighed disdainfully. "And who might you be?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." That immediately changed Draco's tone.

"Uzumaki, you say? That is a very prominent pure-blood family, is it not?" Draco asked, his tone suddenly friendly.

Naruto nodded, inwardly disgusted by him. He was exactly like those people who loved Sasuke just because he was a prestigous Uchiha!

"Well, , you may consider yourself allowed to become part of my offer to ."

"And why would I want to do that?" Naruto asked in the most uncaring voice he could come up with. "What could you help me with, anyways?"

Draco's eyes narrowed.

"Watch it, Uzumaki. You're trying to dig your own grave. But that can be excused, considering that you've been hanging out with the Weasley. They are a poor sort of family. And believe me when I say poor is an understatement."

Ron immediately jumped forward, obviously looking to retort to Malfoy's comment with a fist to the jaw. Harry sprang forward as well, looking to making sure no harm came to his friend.

Before either could make a move, Naruto held up a hand to stop them and stepped towards Malfoy.

Malfoy smirked. "Glad you could see sense, Uzumaki. Unlike your good-for-nothing frie-"

He was immediately cut off by a punch to the jaw, courtesy of one Naruto Uzumaki.

"I can find out the wrong sort myself, thanks."

* * *

Draco Malfoy was furious.

No. That would be an understatement.

At first he had been immediately interested in gaining Harry Potter as an ally and after being introduced to the Uzumaki he had decided to collect the blond as well. It was perfect. With their status, wealth and political power combined they could have become a force to be reckoned with.

Then Uzumaki punched him. And insulted him. In front of all their peers.

Did that idiot know who he was talking to?

Oh, he would know soon enough.

Anger surged through him as he raised his wand.

* * *

Naruto tensed as he saw Malfoy draw his wand.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Professor McGonagall had chosen this point to intervene.

"First years. You may all come in now. Is there a problem ?" She asked seeing Malfoy's wand.

Naruto gulped nervously but to his luck, the other boy simply shook his head embarrassedly.

"No, Professor."

"Then please put your wand away."

Malfoy immediately complied.

"As I was saying, the sorting is starting. Now, if you will all follow me. Single file."

Naruto gave a small sigh of relief but tensed again as Malfoy brushed by.

"You better watch your back, Uzumaki."

He frowned, but pushed the other boy's words to the back of his head. He had bigger things to worry about. His sorting for one.

He walked trough the Great Hall doors, not noticing Harry and Ron trailing behind him with identical grins plastered on their faces.

* * *

"Naruto Uzumaki"

Hearing Professor McGonagall call his name, Naruto gulped and walked across the hall. This was where it all had all come down to. The train ride had been tremendously fun and he had even made his first friends through Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Considering that Harry had already been sorted into Gryffindor and Ron was well likely to go there as well…he would get into Gryffindor no matter what.

_Gryffindor. Gryffindor. Gryffindor._ The silent mantra he chanted into his head had earned him an answer the second the hat had been placed on his head.

_**Gryffindor you say? And why would that be, my boy? Though you do not have the qualities of a Ravenclaw, you are still eligible for Slytherin and Hufflepuff, as well.**_

_I don't care! I want to be in the same house as Harry and Ron!_

_**Slytherin is the house of ambition and greatness. I can feel it in you. You want to be great. Slytherin can easily get you there. There is no guarantee Gryffindor can do the same.**_

_I'll become great on my own then! I don't care about how much help Slytherin can give me! I _will_ be in the same house as my friends._

_**If that is your wish, then let it be. The house you seek is-**_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

At the yell a loud cheer erupted from the Gryffindor table.

Naruto grinned and joined a beaming Harry at the Table as they waited for Ron to be sorted.

"He's a Gryffindor, for sure." Harry remarked.

Sure enough, Ron ended up in Gryffindor and chose to sit down beside Naruto amidst the loud cheers from his new peers.

Naruto's grin only widened.

* * *

The classes at Hogwarts were fascinating.

There was a lot more to magic then just wand-waving and spitting out words. Naruto and Harry, both of which had grown up with non-magical caregivers (though neither of which had gotten much care), had found everything utterly fascinating and the fact that they had every single class together was always enough to bring wide grins to their faces.

Every Tuesday at night they went up to the Astronomy Tower to learn more about the stars and planet. Professor Sinistra taught this class.

Professor Flitwick was extremely short but an all around nice teacher. He taught their charms class and had apparently taught Naruto's mother. He described her as one of his most spectacular student, a fact Naruto was most proud of.

Professor McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor house and Transfigurations Professor, was an entirely different person. No-nonsense and strict, just as Naruto had first described her as, she refused to give special treatment to any particular student.

Professor Quirrell was their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; a class Ron had said would be immensely fun. Though they did learn some useful facts, their teacher seemed too afraid to do any practical work at all. And he kept muttering about vampires.

Professor Binns, their History of Magic teacher was in fact a ghost. Something which surprised the hell out of Naruto at first but he got over it quickly. Though Naruto, Harry and Ron had all agreed that this had to be their most boring class.

To top it off, it was a huge castle. A fact which made it very easy for Naruto and his friends to get lost.

It took several for the trio to be able to get to the Great Hall without any unplanned detours.

"What do we got now?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Double potions. With the Slytherins." Ron answered, looking slightly glum at the fact. "Snape's the teacher there. I hear he always favours his own house. I know Fred and George have done enough for him to give _me _detention."

Harry frowned. "He can't be that bad, Ron. Cheer up."

"Yeah," Naruto piped up, "He's the one who took me to Hogwarts, you know. I spent an entire day with him."

"You had to spend an entire day with Snape?" A voice cut through, one which he recognized as Fred Weasley, Ron's brother. Of course, whenever somebody heard that voice there was always another that would follow.

"Oh, woe is him! Why? Oh, why God? Why?" And that would be the voice of George Weasley, Fred's twin brother.

"This poor tortured soul! Why him? Why couldn't it have been Fred? Why, cruel lord?" Cried out George.

"The tragedy! Men! We must salute him!"

Fred and George both toke a pose. A pose to which Naruto and half the Gryffindor table couldn't help but grin to.

"Here stands Naruto Uzumaki. Dead man walking." Said Fred sullenly.

Replacing his grin with a solemn look, Naruto nodded and placed a comforting hand on Fred's shoulder.

"I know what you're going through. Believe me when I say, nobody will miss Naruto more then me. He was more then a friend. He was, well…me. Moreover, he was a great man. Powerful. Rich. Intelligent. Good-looking. A ladies man. I could go on, but I'm starting to blush."

George nodded sympathetically. "Let us all raise a goblet in salute to this brave soul who had to go through more then an hour with Snape and commemorate the fallen."

"Amen, brother." Fred piped in and raised his goblet.

To this they earned a hearty cheer across the Great Hall with smiles and laughter all around. Naruto could have sworn that he had seen Professor McGonagall smile, if only for the smallest of seconds.

The twins grinned, bowed and sat themselves beside Harry.

"Nice skit." He said, unable to stop his grin from going ear to ear. "But is Professor Snape really that bad?"

"Well, that depends." Said Fred.

"If you're Slytherin, he's as good as God." Continued George

"If you're Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, he's not so bad."

"If you're Gryffindor, however, then he's the Devil in disguise."

"Don't worry too much about it, you'll find out on your own when his class starts."

* * *

Snape like all the teachers started the first day of class by taking attendance of the students.

Like the other teachers he paused at Harry's name. However, his reaction was completely different.

"Well then, class," He said, "It seems we have a celebrity in our class. _The _Harry Potter."

A few snickers could be heard from Slytherins, Malfoy's being the loudest.

After Snape completed the attendance he turned to fully face the class.

"The reason you are here to learn the elusive and ingenious art of Potion-making," He began, "There is very, very little room for foolish wand-waving in this class, as most of what we will be working on will be much less practical and will require more brains then most of you probably have. The delicate liquids which have the ability to fool even the keenest of wizards; confound them without even the twitch of a muscle. I can teach you all how to brew truth, confidence, cunning…if you are not one of the usual idiots I have to teach."

Silence was what followed his speech. Harry looked around. Hermione Granger was at the edge of her seat, looking to be prepared to show Snape that she definitely was not one of the idiots he had spoke of. Naruto, sitting beside her, looked to be completely ready for anything Snape would throw at him, confidence etched onto his face. The rest of the class simply oozed nervousness.

"Potter!" Snape barked, turning Harry's attention onto him. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

The question had caught him completely of guard. Harry looked completely flustered as he searched through his head for the answer.

"Well, Potter?" Snape prodded, ignoring Hermione's frantically waved hand.

"I don't know, sir." He answered slightly apologetically.

"And what's the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?" Snape continued.

"I don't know that either." Harry responded, his ears getting warm.

"I don't know, _sir_. Just because you are a celebrity does not mean you will disrespect me in my own class. Understood?_"_

"Yes, sir." Harry said softly.

Snape smirked and turned to the rest of the class. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Why are none of you writing this down?"

Seconds later the dungeons were filled with the sound of scraping quills.

* * *

"Well that wasn't so bad." Naruto got out, trying to cheer up his best friends.

"I suppose it wasn't too bad, as long as you were not a Gryffindor." Ron answered glumly.

"Or Harry Potter, especially." Harry added, just as glum.

The two both shared a look and turned to the blond member of their group.

"What have you got over him?" They asked in unison.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto responded, truly perplexed.

"The whole class he did nothing to you at all! No points taken away, even when you interrupted him!" Ron elaborated. "Why is that?"

Naruto frowned. When he thought hard enough about it, Snape did seem to treat him better then most of the other Gryffindors in their class.

"I don't really know." He answered shrugging.

"Let's forget about it." Harry interrupted. "It's time for lunch, you know."

This immediately put the conversation on hold, as Naruto and Ron both raced past Harry and in the general direction of the Great Hall.

"Oh, come on!" He shouted after them. "Wait for me!"

Harry quickly raced after them, with a speed surprising for an eleven year old but when he had arrived there Ron and Naruto were both already eating.

"Thanks for waiting." He sarcastically snipped before sitting down across from the two.

"Sorry 'bout that." Ron said, not looking the least bit sorry as he devoured a muffin. Naruto simply grinned apologetically.

Harry rolled his eyes and picked up his own muffin.

"Did you hear though?" Ron piped up after swallowing. "Somebody broke into Gringotts!"

"What?" Harry and Naruto asked at the same time.

"Read!" Was all Ron said as he shoved the Daily Prophet in their faces.

_Gringotts Break-In Latest!_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault (vault 713) that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon. _

"I was there that day!" Harry exclaimed. "What vault did they say?"

"713." Naruto answered.

"Hagrid went to that vault! He told me that he was there on special Hogwarts business or something!"

"Think he might know who broke in?" Ron asked curiously.

"We can ask him ourselves. He invited me to tea this Sunday!" Harry replied.

* * *

"So…neither of you finished with your charms homework?" Naruto asked pleadingly.

Harry and Ron both shook their heads.

"Sorry, mate. But that's not due until the day after tomorrow. Why so worried about it now?" Ron inquired, frowning.

"I can't do it tomorrow. Kakashi and Genma are meeting with me right after dinner to get me started on my training."

"Those two shiboni guys? Why are they training you?" It wasn't an angry or accusatory tone Ron was using, just curious.

"Shinobi. And they're training me because I can't go to the ninja academy. In a couple of years I'm gonna have to take the test to become a shinobi just like them."

"What are shinobi, exactly?" Harry inquired.

"Sorta like trained fighters. We get paid to protect people and other important jobs. But to do that you need to be really strong. That's what Kakashi and Genma are here for." Naruto answered.

Harry and Ron exchanged looks.

"Think we can come along for one of your lessons?" Harry asked hopefully.

Naruto grinned. "Sure, I'll ask tomorrow. But first of all-are you sure you didn't do it?"

Once again they shook their heads.

"Go to the library." Ron suggested. "Maybe you can find somebody who already did it there."

"Or get some books to help you with it." Harry added.

Naruto nodded and set off to his next destination. The library.

* * *

Naruto looked around.

The library wasn't too bad. It reminded him a lot of the Academy library. Except a lot more stuffy and probably a lot more useful. And nobody kicked him out just for breathing.

Naruto eyes stopped on one person. It looked like he found his target.

He grinned as he walked up to and tapped the bushy haired girl's shoulder.

* * *

Hermione Granger loved the library.

It was ancient and practically reeked knowledge. Anything she needed she could easily find here. From potion-making tips to advanced charms theory, she could have any of it. It was just her special place to go to.

Not to mention how it's calm and quiet nature never failed to make the girl smile.

Which is why when one of the loudest boys in her year tapped her shoulder and asked if the seat beside her was taken she wasn't exactly smiling. But manners kicked in and she immediately responded with a 'no'.

"Cool." The boy said, sitting down immediately. "I'm Naruto."

"We met on the train. Or have you forgotten?" She frowned, slightly hurt he couldn't remember.

"Nah, but it doesn't hurt to introduce yourself, does it?" He replied, an annoyingly wide grin on his face.

"No, I suppose it doesn't." Hermione relented as she turned her attention to her work. Maybe she could finish it now.

"Is that charms?" Naruto piped up, gazing over her shoulder.

She sighed. "Yes. And, no, you can't copy me."

Naruto glared. "I wasn't going to ask that!"

She gave him a very disbelieving look. One which made immediately him falter.

"Okay, I was." He confessed. "But I really need it done."

"No."

"No? Come on, Hermione. Please?" He continued to plead.

"No. If I let you copy then you'll never learn it on your own. So…no" She answered and sighed when she noticed Naruto's very disappointed face.

"But I can help you write it, if you like. No copying." Right as she finished this she was met with an extremely grateful hug and yells of 'Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou'.

Blushing lightly she slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Don't be so loud. Madam Pince will kick us out!" She hissed when she had taken it off.

Naruto nodded but mouthed 'thank you' one more time before retaking his seat."

* * *

"That's amazing!" Hermione said wondrously. "An entire continent hidden from the world!"

Naruto nodded and grinned.

The two had only just finished their charms assignment and were now simply chatting about their lives before they had gotten their Hogwarts letters. Naruto had learned that Hermione's parents were dentists and that even they didn't know she was magical until Dumbledore had arrived to tell them. After Naruto had finished the story of how _he _had gotten here, she seemed really impressed.

"Wait here." She said as she got up and walking down the shelves. After nearly a minute she returned with a book.

"_The Wizarding Atlas,_" She started, "Is a book on the geography of the entire world. You can find virtually any place with it!"

"Cool." These wizards had everything.

Hermione opened the book to the map of the world and pointed to a fairly large mass of land in the Pacific Ocean.

"Is this it?"

Naruto shrugged, "Maybe."

She sighed and traced the land with her wand. A label saying 'Ibharis' appeared.

"I think this it." She tapped the label again which made it change to 'Pg 124'.

After finding the section written specifically on the continent Hermione propped the book in front of the two of them and began reading aloud.

"'Named after world famous curse-breaker and discoverer of the hidden continent, Charlie Ibharis, this mass of land is a world hidden from even the wizards for quite some time. It was discovered in 1686 when Charlie Ibharis lost control of his broom on the Pacific Ocean and had crashed in the foreign land out of pure and simple luck. The man, 22 at the time, explored the land and discovered that throughout its wonders it was also home to extremely savage and bloody muggles, even more so then the ones that exist today. After nearly a month Ibharis managed to repair his broom and fly it back to the wizarding world to tell them of his discovery. None believed him at first, after a trip to a local pensieve it was safe to assume that Ibharis was real. Despite this it toke nearly a decade before the charms around the land were weakened enough for wizards to see it from a distance. To this day most muggles are still unable to see it, however.'"

The section went on to explain about the different countries and villages. It talked about how the people there used a special form of muggle magic that was nearly as powerful as spells but only used it to fight and harm others. It even explained how one of Naruto's ancestors, one Michael Uzumaki, had made the decision to move his entire family there to prove to other pure-bloods they were the most powerful.

However it wasn't too long before Madam Pince walked up to them and asked them to leave.

"But it's only around 7." Naruto protested. Something which made her look at him oddly.

"Actually, it's 8:30, my boy. Though I find it wonderful that you are so interested in these books, I must ask you to return to your house rooms before curfew. First years must be in the common room before 9, you should know."

Naruto nodded. He and Hermione quickly packed their things and mumbled goodbye to Madam Pince before leaving.

"That was pretty fun." Naruto remarked.

"It was." Hermione smiled at him. "So does this make us friends?" She asked, her tone a mixture of hopefulness and fear.

"Of course." He said, grinning. She smiled again.

"I don't have many friends." She confessed as they walked down the hallway.

"Well, this is Hogwarts. It's hard to make new friends." Naruto replied.

"No. I mean, I have never had many friends even before I came here." Her ears started to glow slightly. "People think I'm bossy and no fun."

"You are." He said without thinking. She looked slightly crestfallen. "In a good way!" He added, internally hitting himself for saying that.

"I didn't have that many friends either. Before I came to Hogwarts, I mean." He admitted.

"She frowned. "Why not? You're really nice and fun!"

He blushed lightly at the praise. "I guess I was kinda…loud and obnoxious. I was sort of an attention hog too."

"You are." He glared. "But in a good way." She added, grinning. He grinned as well.

They had reached the portrait and after a quick 'Balderdash', were in the common room.

"Harry, Ron and I are going to Hagrid's this Sunday for tea. Do you want to come?" He asked as the parted ways.

She smiled. "I'd love to… are you sure they won't mind?"

"I can talk to 'em."

"Well, goodnight."

"Night."

* * *

**I hope you are all enjoying the newly edited version so far. A lot less grammar errors and it's longer!**

**Please review. **


	3. Of Mysteries and Flying

**I welcome you all to the new and improved version of the Third Chapter of Of Magic and Chakra.**

**Don't hesitate to enjoy.**

**Thank you to the readers. All of you.**

**That said, here you go.**

* * *

**Of Mysteries and Flying Lessons**

"Please," Naruto groaned, "Can I…please…take a…break?"

He looked up hopefully to the face (or lake thereof) of Kakashi. He and Genma had been working his ass off for the past hour! When he had first arrived at the small clearing just outside of the forbidden forest he had thought that he would be learning really cool and super powerful jutsus that would help him become Hokage. Instead they had decided to work on his taijutsu, saying it was his weakest point.

"Your taijutsu from is sloppy at best," Genma's voice cut through the small clearing, "You're really slow and power is better but not exactly real shinobi material. All you've really got going for you is your stamina and now even that's run out?"

Naruto glared. "I'm not tired; it's just that my arms and legs are killing me."

"You really expect to be Hokage if you can't work through the pain?" Kakashi questioned, looking smug. As if beating up an eleven year old made you the strongest man alive!

"Alright, take a break." Genma relented. "But I want to listen carefully as you do this. Kakashi and I are going to tell you all of your faults during this exercise."

Naruto nodded and set himself down amongst the soft back-healing grass. "Shoot."

"Like I said before, your form is completely sloppy. A lot sloppier then any academy student's should be. I could find over 30 different holes in each and every one of your movement. The answer to this as I have decided is to teach you a new fighting style. Kakashi will teach a special personalized fighting style that mainly relies on perfectly fluid motions. One attack is followed by one which can easily complement it, do you understand?"

Naruto nodded. "Kakashi's gonna teach me to fight."

"The style you'll be learning is going to rely on the fact that you _know_ which attack you will use next in one-tenth of a second. To do this I will teach you the different attack motions but you will have to be the one to put it all together."

"How will I know which attack to use?"

"Reflexes." Genma simply replied. "After we're down with you, you will have _very _quick reflexes."

"That said, no jutsus until you can hold your own in a taijutsu battle against a gennin."

Naruto nodded and immediately stood up. "Okay! I'm ready to learn it!"

Kakashi and Genma gave him one of their sadistic you-are-so-off looks.

"Before you get started on style you are going to need a lot more speed. You know what that means." Kakashi announced happily.

_Please don't mean what I think it means._

"More training!"

_I hate those two._

* * *

Naruto groaned as he walked down the hall leading to the Gryffindor common room. Genma and Kakashi were slave drivers! There wasn't a single inch of his body that didn't hurt. Though what hurt even more was that he had to do this three times a week. And get up every morning at 6:00 A.M for a 2 hour workout. This basically left him with about an hour before his first period.

He hated those two.

"Balderdash." He groaned to the portrait of the fat lady, which swung open, frowning.

He had reached as far as his bed before he was pounced upon by Harry and Ron, who had both apparently stayed awake for his arrival.

"Whoa there mate, you gonna tell us where you've been?" Ron inquired to his battered state.

"No." Was his muffled reply.

"Oh come on. Wake up, Naruto. It's only 9:30." Harry prodded.

"Is it really too much to ask for a good night's sleep before I answer that question?"

"Yes." Both boys chorused.

"Fine! 3 questions, but I'm _not _getting up!"

Harry and Ron grinned before commencing their barrage of questions.

"_Where _exactly have you been?"

"With Kakashi and Genma outside the forbidden forest. Training."

"Did you ask if we could come along with you next time?"

"Yes."

"And what did they say?"

"Okay."

"So what will we be learning exactly?"

"3 questions are done. Get up at around 6 tomorrow." They had _no_ idea what they were getting into.

But they would soon.

* * *

"Kakashi…sir…can we…please…take…a break? Or...at least…slow…down?" Harry panted. Beside him Ron was faring not too much better. Naruto, on the other hand, was barely breathing hard and far ahead of them.

Kakashi smiled, though they probably couldn't see it behind his mask, "Come on Harry! If we are going to get you all into a good enough shape to fight then you two need to build up your strength! Besides it's just 10 more laps for you two before we finish!"

Harry and Ron groaned but continued their laps.

When they were finished they opted to keep their distance from they masked man and sit beside Naruto.

"Wow…I can see…why you…didn't…want…to move…at all…last night!" Harry breathed, sucking in large gulps of air.

"Blimey…30 laps in a half hour!" Ron groaned. "How can you do this? My legs are killing me!"

Naruto shrugged. He was also breathing fairly hard. "They…said they were going to…increase the amount…of laps…every week. Could be worse! I had to do 50."

Ron groaned again. "Every morning, huh?"

"Yup."

"And why are we doing this?"

"'Cause then we'll be as fast as them!"

Ron couldn't help but nod Kakashi _was _impressive. He had never thought somebody could move that fast without a wand.

"And you can only imagine what this'll do for your quiditch or whatever it's called." Genma added, now towering above the three boys.

Ron immediately bounced to his feet. "Alright! Let's get started! Come on people, we don't have all day!"

The other two groaned. Kakashi chuckled.

"Who wants their progress reports? Genma, go ahead."

"Alright. First of all. Harry you are going to need the most work. You're skinny, slow and lack stamina All I can say is eat a lot more and get ready because you are going to have the toughest time." Harry nodded. "Ron, you're pretty fit for a civilian but you wouldn't survive a fight with Naruto. You need to build up physical strength more." Ron nodded as well. "Naruto you're pretty good for civilian standards but pretty sucky for ninja standards. Good stamina but way low speed. We are going to be working mostly on your speed. Chakra training will be later on."

"What's chakra?" Ron piped up.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "I'll take it from here Genma."

Naruto groaned. "Thanks a lot, Ron! Now he's in lecture mode."

Ignoring him Kakashi continued:

"The energy used which is used by ninjas for jutsus, otherwise known as chakra is the resulting form of energy when two other forms of energy are mixed together. The two energies are referred to as 'physical energy' and 'spiritual energy'. Physical energy is collected from the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, or exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience. Having these two energies become more powerful will in-turn make the created chakra more extensive. Therefore, practicing a jutsu repeatedly will build-up experience, , and thus allowing more chakra to be created. As a result, the ninja is able to building up one's spiritual energy do that same jutsu with more power. This same cycle applies for physical energy, except this time, instead of doing things like meditation, the ninja could, say, do push-ups.'

"Chakra takes time and training to gradually build up. Something that anybody can do if they work hard enough. So what's really the key is not actually having chakra, but being able to sufficiently control it. Everyone has chakra, but only truly skilled ninja can correctly "mold" and "manipulate" it to its fullest extent.'

"Molding chakra means to extract energies from both the body's cells and the mind's consciousness, then mixing them together within the individual. The amount of each energy will differ from the type of technique the ninja wishes to execute. In other words, a ninja could create too much or too little chakra for a given jutsu, and the chakra cannot be used efficiently. In addition, even if a ninja is able to mold the correct amount of chakra, if they aren't able to manipulate the chakra properly, the desired jutsu won't be as effective or not executed at all. Wasting energy will create a weakness of not being able to fight for a long period of time. Understood?"

Ron stared at him blankly.

Harry frowned. "I get the first part. About spiritual energy and physical energy."

Kakashi nodded. "That's all you really need to know. Point is that logically anybody can do it but as you get older it's harder to learn. Which is why if you're not trainined at an early age then you won't be able to use it most likely. Though you and Ron are pretty young it is essentially nearly impossible for you to have enough chakra for a jutsu. Every morning we will be working on the physical part of chakra and just by attending classes you are nurturing your spiritual energy. Though before you go to sleep, I want you to spend a half hour meditating. Got it?"

The three nodded.

"Good. And who knows? Maybe you _will _be able to use jutsus by the end of the year. Then breaks over. Let's go!"

The three groaned.

* * *

"This is a pretty nice hut." Naruto commented

"Yeah, but it would be nicer if _she_ wasn't coming along." Ron mumbled, glaring at Hermione who glared right back.

"Oh, like your great company, _Ronald_." Ron glared at the use of his full name.

Naruto and Harry both sighed. Neither of them was sure why the two hated each other so much. It could have been because of Hermione's constant nagging or Ron's pompous attitude but it was agreed between the two that it was _really_ annoying.

"Why is she coming, anyways?" Ron whispered.

"Because I promised her, Now shut up, Hagrid's coming back." Naruto hissed.

Sure enough Hagrid had returned back to the table with a plate of what looked to be rocks and tea.

"Go 'head. Take on'! It's my own recipe! Har' Cookies an' tea."

The four exchanged looks and shook their heads politely.

"Sorry, Hagrid we just ate." Harry said apologetically.

"Suit yerself."

With that he toke a bite of one of them, resulting in a sound that was much like that of a hammer smashing a rock to bits.

"Hey Hagrid, did you know my mother?" Naruto asked curiously when Hagrid had finished chewing.

"O' course! Who din'? Afte' all, she was one o' the mos' gifted studen' to come to Hogwarts! Jus' a couple years ahead o' Harry's. Bit o' a prankster, she was! Why, I remember one time, she…"

* * *

"I really like this Hagrid guy!" Naruto declared.

"He really is likable." Hermione agreed.

Harry grinned. "Told you you'd like him!"

Ron shrugged. "He's not a bad guy."

They had just exited Hagrid's cabin and were chatting animatedly aamongst themselves as they walked back to the school.

"He seemed pretty angry when we asked him about the break-in though."

"Yeah." Harry said, remembering Hagrid's very loud outburst.

"_Don' go stikin' yer noses where they don' belong!"_

Ron shrugged. "Who cares?" He cut in, "More importantly, we have flying lessons the day after tomorrow!"

Hermione immediately wet frantic. "What? Why didn't anybody tell me? This is big news! I have to go to the library right away!" With that the bushy haired girl immeditely ran off in the general direction of said library.

Naruto frowned. "I didn't know that! How the hell do you know that?"

Harry shrugged. "McGonagell announced it to us the night you were at the library."

"And you never bothered to tell me?"

"Um…it kind of slipped our minds?"

Naruto glared at their apologetic looks. Sometimes he hated those two as much as he hated Kakashi and Genma.

_No._ Flashbacks of Kakashi beating him to the ground and Genma criticizing his every move hit him.

He definitely hated Kakashi and Genma more.

* * *

"Give that back Malfoy!"

Naruto snapped his head immediately away from the conversation he was having with Dean Thomas to see Malfoy and Harry arguing over Neville's remembrall.

"Make me Potter!" With that Malfoy hopped onto his broom and rose into the air, smirking all the while.

Naruto frowned and was about to shout out to him when Harry beat him to it.

Jumping onto his broom and shooting out into the air to level himself with Malfoy, he held his hand out. "Hand it over, Malfoy."

Hermione frantically shouted beneath them, "Harry! Come on! It's not worth it! You could get suspended!"

Malfoy, hearing this, seemed to pale a bit as he turned and threw the remembrall he held in his hand downward to the general direction of the castle.

"Try and get it now, Potter!" But even as the words had left his mouth Harry had already sped off towards it.

Naruto, along with the rest of the class, watched with none too little amount of awe as Harry dived for the remembrall at an amazing speed, twisting slightly as it bounced of a window, and ended up catching it several feet before it hit the ground.

Along with the rest of the class he gave a hearty cheer which was unfortunately interrupted by the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Mr. Potter!"

* * *

"I could take you on any time, Malfoy." Naruto growled.

It had been nearly a day since the Flying Lesson incident and when it was discovered that Harry would not be punished but would instead be playing for the Gryffindor Quiditch team the entire table was ecstatic. Malfoy, on the other hand, was furious and even dared to insult him along with his other friends. The Slytherin had even went so far as to challenge Naruto to a duel.

Malfoy smirked. "How about tonight then, Uzumaki?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Tonight, in front of the trophy room. Ten thirty. Don't chicken out."He left, smirking.

Hermione immediately pounced on them.

"What was that? How can you agree, just like that?"

Narutoi shrugged. "I've been through a lot of fights back home. Malfoy's nothing."

She glared. "How can be so selfish! You could get expelled or even lose our house points!"

"At least Malfoy'll get the beating his parents never gave him."

She huffed and stomped off.

* * *

"Ready?" Naruto prodded his two companions.

Harry and Ron both nodded as they stepped as quietly as they could through the stairs that lead to the Common Room. They quickly headed towards the exit and shared mischevious grins as they stood right in front of the portrait hole.

"Where do you think you're going?" A completely no-nonsense voice cut through to them.

The boys gulped and turned around expecting to see Professor McGonagall only to come face to face with Hermione.

"Hemrione!" Naruto hissed. "What the hell!"

"That's what I should be asking you! Do you three know what you're doing? Your actions are going to affect the entire house!" She hissed back, returning his glare with one of her own.

"Only if we get caught."

"Which you will."

"No. I won't."

"Yes. You will."

"No"

"Yes."

"No. I wo-." Naruto started only to be cut off by Harry.

"Can we hurry this along? I mean we only have about 10 minutes before Malfoy gets to say you chickened out. Hermione you can come if you want, but we've got to get going."

Naruto nodded and followed him and Ron through the portrait hole.

"Wait!" Hermione called careful to keep her voice to a minimum.

She stepped through the hole the portrait slamming shut behind her.

"You can not be serious! Who cares what Malfoy says? You could get expelled!"

Naruto shrugged.

She glared. "Boys!" With a huff she turned back to the portrait hole.

Only to see that the Fat Lady was missing.

"Balderdash?" She called out hopefully. The entrance remained shut.

Naruto grinned when she turned around to face him.

"Considering that we're all locked out and can't get back in…why don't we go find Malfoy?"

She glared.

* * *

Naruto looked around, frowning. Ron and Harry mirrored his expression.

"Where the hell is he?"

They had been waiting for nearly 20 minutes! Malfoy _had_ said 'in front of the trophy room', right?

"Well…it seems that has decided to not show up after all. I wonder why?" Naruto did not even need to turn around to see that Hermione was smirking.

"Oh, shut up."

"Well ate least one of you two has common sense."

"Hermione…"

"It's quite fascinating how a boy's mind could be so simple."

"Come on…"

"I can't say I'm all that sur-."

"Hermione!" He hissed softly, cutting her off. "Listen!"

The bushy haired girl frowned but followed his instructions.

The sound of a cat giving a meow resounded in the hallway and a throaty voice bounced right behind it.

"This way you say? Of course, ! When I catch these delinquents, they'll be expelled, they will!"

The four paled.

And ran as fast as their feet could carry them.

"There!" Ron exclaimed softy, pointing to a nearby door.

Being the first to reach it and pulling at it's handle as hard as he could, Harry could only cry out frantically, "It's locked!"

"_Alohomara." _Naruto hissed. The door immediately opened.

Jumping in and closing it as the last person entered, the four Gryffindors leaned closely against the door and waited.

Their hearts raced nervously as they heard footsteps travel across the hallway they had recently vacated.

The footsteps carried one for nearly a minute before it faded away.

They waited several minutes afterwards.

No sound came.

Giving a long relieved sigh Naruto leaned against the door as he sat himself down. And saw what looked to be a giant three headed dog staring up curiously at him.

So he did the only thing a brave and courageous soon-to-be ninja from Konoha would do.

He screamed.

* * *

They had ran. As fast as their legs could carry them.

They four had made it all the way to the common room before they stopped.

Panting heavily Ron was the first to speak up. "What the hell's a dog like that doing in here?"

Hermione immediately rounded on him, "I don't suppose that head of yours is just for show, is it? I could say the same to you two as well for that matter! Did anybody happen to see what it was standing on?"

Naruto and Ron exchanged confused glances. It was Harry that spoke up.

"It looked like…a trapdoor."

Hermione nodded. "Whatever it is, it's there for a reason. And that reason has to do with the trapdoor."

Naruto frowned. "Why would anybody want to leave something at Hogwarts? I mean, there are a lot of people here who can steal it."

Harry shook his head. "Hagrid told me that the only place safer then Gringotts is Hogwarts. That explains why Professor Dumbledore told us to stay away from that corridor."

Hermione's expression quickly went neutral. "Yes, well, I hope the three of you are very happy now that we've nearly all been killed. Or even worse- expelled! I'm off to bed, if you don't mind. I would say Good Night but we all know I don't really want that." With that, she left.

Naruto sighed and turned to head for his own dormitory right when a dangerous thought hit him.

"Crap…"

Harry and Ron turned to him, frowning.

"What's up, mate?" Ron prodded quizzically.

Naruto groaned.

"We were supposed to meet Kakashi and Genma tonight for training! They would have given us hall passes! Think they'll be mad?"

His two roommates gave him equally blank stares.

_We are so screwed…_

* * *

"Come on ladies! Is that all you've got? We've got a lot more work to do now that we've got to catch up on last night's lesson!" Kakashi called happily at the three tortured and panting boys. "All you have to do is touch me once! Then you get to eat!"

Naruto glared and aimed a punch at his midsection. Kakashi easily sidestepped it and with some quick footwork dodged past the twin tackled Harry and Ron aimed at his eyes.

This had been going on for nearly half an hour and was quickly becoming more than just a really difficult game of tag.

Now it was war.

"Is that really all I can expect from a supposedly future Hokage? The other villages will be laughing their asses off at us for sure!" Kakashi goaded, easily stepping past Naruto's reaction to his insult.

"This is useless!" Ron shouted, no longer able to stand up fully and now opting to stay lying on the ground motionlessly. "Why are we even doing this? How are we ever going to catch up with you? You're a hundred times faster then us!"

Harry nodded in agreement. Naruto simply stayed silent, opting instead for glaring at the one eyed jounin.

Kakashi shrugged. "Try a thousand. The point of this is to see if you can improvise, think on your feet, surprise me. Though I'd be very impressed if any of you would be able to catch up to me by speed alone. You probably won't be able to do that by the end of the year. In all honesty you might never catch up to my speed. But every day you actually _come _to training is another day to give you a better chance at that."

The three looked down guiltily.

Now I'm not really interested in why you didn't come," Kakashi said, cutting off Ron when he opened his mouth to say something, "But If you don't then you're wasting my time and I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. So if I tell you to come at a certain time I expect you to arrive _on time_. Is that clear?"

The three nodded.

"Good. Then to answer your question Ron, you're doing this because I'm pissed off at you guys and Genma is busy looking up combat spells for you three. It also adds to the fact that this is really fun."

The three stared at him incredulously.

"From the top now!"

* * *

_**Ron, Harry, Hermione and Naruto's Reasons Why There Is a Giant Three Headed Dog in Hogwarts:**_

_**-**__Dumbledore is extremely fond of keeping dangerous pets (__**RW**__: He could be holding onto it for a friend.) (__**HG**__: Highly doubtful; there are much better places to keep that sort of thing.) (__**RW**__: Would you quit being a know-it-all for three seconds?) (__**HG**__: No)_

_-It is hiding something (__**NU**__: That would explain the trapdoor.) (__**HP**__: Hagrid did say Hogwarts was the safest place on earth.)_

_-It could be hiding _someone_ (__**HP**__: I don't really think Dumbledore's the kind of guy to hold someone prisoner…) (__**RW**__: It could be a really bad guy.)_

_-Dumbledore is actually secretly evil and is raising an army of three headed dogs to crush the ministry and take over the world (__**HG**__: Honestly Naruto, are you even taking this seriously?) (__**NU**__: It could happen!) (__**HP**__: No. It's pretty low, even by your standards.) (__**NU**__: Bite me, Harry.)_

_- The dog is guarding a secret entrance which leads to a very important part of the castle (__**HP**__: Secret entrances?) (__**RW**__: I remember Fred and George talking a bit about them to Bill.) (__**HG**__: Congratulations Ronald, you proved you have ears. Do you want to try for a brain now?) (__**HP**__: Cut it out you two.)_

_-The trapdoor under the dog is really a portal to another world. A world where apes rule and the average man must work as there slaves. Dumbledore wants to travel to this world to help the human rebellion out and defeat the Dark Monkey Lord using the power of- (__**HG**__: That's it. Naruto you are no longer allowed to write.) (__**NU**__: Hey! Come on! Don't you guys have any imagination?) (__**HG**__: Don't you have any brains?) (__**HP**__: Am I the only one who is getting pretty sick and tried of this bickering.) (__**RW**__: Speak for yourself mate! It's fun to see them go at it!) _

_**For Theory Number Two: Things That Could Be Hidden**_

_-A super powerful weapon of mass destruction! (__**HG**__: Considering how many people attend Hogwarts a day. I doubt it.) (__**NU**__: What would you know? You have no imagination.) (__**HG**__: I _do_ have an imagination, thank you very much!) (__**NU**__: No you don't. And you're not welcome!) (__**HG**__: Yes I do and the point is that we don't need imagination, we need ideas!) (__**NU**__: You need ideas!) (__**HG**__: That makes no sense!) (__**NU**__: You make no sense!) (__**HG**__: This is impossible.) (__**NU**__: You're impossible!) (__**HG**__: Oh, shut up!) (__**NU**__: You shut up!) (__**HG**__: …) (__**NU**__: …) (__**HP**__: Are you two done?) (__**NU**__: You're done.) (__**HP**__: …) _

_-A really expensive object. (__**HG**__: This one would explain why the dog and trapdoor are there but not why Dumbledore is holding onto it.) (__**NU**__: I suppose that makes sense.) (__**HG**__: Who gave you a quill?)_

_-A really dangerous object. (__**HP**__: Obviously Dumbledore doesn't want anybody to get to it so he put the dog there) (__**HG**__: But still, are there no other places for this thing then Hogwarts?) (__**HP**__: Maybe it was the most convenient place.)_

_**For Theory Three: People That Could Be Hidden**_

_-You-Know-Who (__**HG**__: Great theory Ron, except for the fact that he's _dead_) (__**RW**__: My dad doesn't seem to thinks so.)_

_- The dark wizard Dumbledore defeated years ago. (__**NU**__: Dumbledore defeated a dark wizard?) (__**HG**__: Yes. It's common knowledge to anybody who opens a textbook.) (__**NU**__: …You open a textbook.)_

_- Somebody nice and innocent because Dumbledore is evil (__**HG**__: Somehow I really doubt that one, Naruto.) _

_**Theory Six: What Kind of Apes Will Exist Through the Port-**_

"I'm going to bed." Hermione interjected snatching the parchment from Naruto's hand.

"Hey! How come you get to keep it?"

"Because you are not serious about this whatsoever!"

Harry sighed as Ron grinned.

"I'll put my money on the Know-It-All!" Ron quipped, grinning.

It had been more then a month since they had seen the Three Headed Monster and a lot had changed. A troll was released into the dungeons. He, Ron and Naruto had realised that Hermione was down there after Ron had made a particularly cruel remark to her and had raced down to save her. Of course, they ended up facing the troll head on to not only save Hermione but their own lives and had held it off long enough for Kakashi and Genma to arrive and take it down. After that incident the four had quickly bonded and become a lot closer.

"It's safer with us! We've got three people guarding it!" Naruto's voice cut him away from his thoughts.

"You'll probably end up losing it!" She shot back.

"No, I won't!"

"Yes, you will!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No I wo-!"

"Guys!" Harry interjected, ignoring Ron's slight put at the interruption. "Let's not argue over this. Okay? I'll keep this in _my _trunk and _neither _of you are allowed to tough it, okay?"

Hermione glared at Naruto one last time before handing it Harry. "He better not lay one greasy little finger on it."

"You can trust me." He assured, ignoring Naruto's glare.

She gave him a smile. "Goodnight Harry! Ron!" And opted to ignore Naruto who in turn pouted.

With that she ran back towards her dormitory.

Ron yawned. "It _is _getting pretty late. Let's go to bed mate."

Naruto nodded. "Can't wait to see you in action tomorrow!"

Harry gave a half-hearted grin back and followed the two to the boy's dormitory.

* * *

That night, he couldn't sleep.

Considering that tomorrow was the day when all of his practice as the Gryffindor seeker would come to play, he supposed that could be excused.

What if he messed up? What if he was late for the game? What if the team lost because of him?

Questions zoomed through his head as he contemplated tomorrow's game.

Maybe he should just not play? If he didn't play then he wouldn't be able to lose…

But the more he thought about it the less he felt that he could go through with the idea. He couldn't bring himself to let the team down.

Or his father.

Ever since he had heard that his father was a high calibre quiditch player he had found a strange need to play the game. If only to find something that he could share with him. He couldn't afford to let him down.

He would play. And nothing could stop him.

With that thought he drifted towards the blissful isle of sleep.

* * *

Harry gulped silently as he stared down the Slytherin seeker, a rather intimidating seventh year who looked more like a beater with his physique.

_Alright Harry. Come on! This is basically what all that practice has been for. Everything comes down to this._

He groaned as the opposed seeker gave a vicous grin.

"You ready to fail, Gryffindork."

_No. _"I'm not a Slytherin so you don't need to ask me that." He shot back, surprised as the words left his mouth.

Beside him Fred laughed and slapped his back. "That's the spirit Harry!"

"Alright!" Madam Hooch called, signalling the start of the match. "I want a good clean match. On the count of three. Ready?"

Harry nodded and steadied his broom for lift-off.

"One."

The Slytherin seeker gave him a quick sneer and did the same.

"Two."

He was ready. And everybody was counting on him.

"Three."

He would not fail.

"Go!"

* * *

The first match had left Harry tremendously satisfied. Not only had they won by a fairly large margin but Harry had been the one who had secured the victory. Though Harry really didn't want to try that catch in their next match (fitting an entire snitch in your mouth really wasn't all that pleasant) he couldn't help but grin at his team's victory. Everybody else seemed just as ecstatic as he was if not more. All around people were congratulating him, clapping his black in good nature and whatnot. A couple of people even asked for his autograph.

Currently he was being lofted up onto the shoulders of Fred and George as they presented him to the rest of the common room which reacted with several cheers and congratulatory shout outs.

"Great job Harry!" Some third year he didn't know called out to him.

"We knew you had in you Harry!" Some sixth year shouted.

"You rock my world!" Naruto called out to him.

Harry glared. Naruto _had_ to ruin it, didn't he?

The blond simply grinned back.

* * *

"Glad you could make it." Harry heard Naruto happily comment as he finally joined the group outside the portrait hole.

"Glad I could make it." Naruto simply grinned in response. Oh, how he was starting to _really _hate that grin.

Hermione quickly cut in. "Harry, you were great out there!"

Ron nodded enthusiastically. "That catch was amazing! I almost thought you weren't going to make it there for a second!"

Harry frowned. "Yeah, neither did I. I dunno, it's just that my broom went out of control or something."

Hermione nodded. "That's what we need to talk to you about…Harry, we think somebody was trying to jinx you off your broom."

Harry immediately snapped his head up. "What? Who would want to do that? I could have died!"

Hermione hesitated before continuing. "Yes, well, we think it was Professor Snape. He was…whispering something while you were playing. It really looked like a jinx."

Harry's head was in circles. Professor Snape? Try to kill him? That would kind of be possible considering how much the man seemed to hate him… but, seriously? Did the man hate Harry enough to kill him?

"I don't think it's him." Naruto stated calmly, making everybody turn their head to face him.

"It's just that… well, even though he hates Harry for some reason I just don't think he's the kind of person who would actually _kill_ a student, no matter how he feels about them."

Ron looked incredulous at his defence for the Potions Master but Hermione nodded.

"This is all just theory, well enough. It might not have even been anybody in this school, when you think about it." Hermione commented lightly. "Listen, Harry, don't think too much about it. We may just be over thinking things."

Ron nodded. "Brooms malfunction all the time. It's not certainly true that somebody was _trying _to kill you."

Harry sighed. "I suppose you're right. Well, night guys. I'm off to bed."

* * *

The next few weeks had passed by without a hitch and when it had come down to Christmas Holidays Harry felt relatively safe. Maybe it was just a coincidence that his broom stopped working during the match.

He was pulled away from his thoughts by the distinctly strict sound of Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Students please gather around. you have ten seconds to put those chess chocolate frogs down before you two spend the rest of the years cleaning cauldrons."

Fred grinned sheepishly before setting down the tasty treats.

"Good. Now, as most of you may know, the time has come around once again for the school's Christmas Holidays. This means that you will be given ten days to visit your homes and loved ones without the accompaniment of the Hogwarts staff. Should any of you be staying at Hogwarts for your Holidays then I would ask that you sign this parchment. It will be in my office where I will be waiting for any of those who will be staying. You have until Monday to sign as you will be leaving on Wednesday."

After finishing her speech Professor McGonagall quickly presented the parchment to everyone and exited the common room.

Harry turned to his friends. "Are any of you staying?" He asked in a hopeful tone.

Ron gave him a roguish grin. "Me, Fred and George are."

Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, but I promised my parents I would stay with them for the holidays."

Naruto also shook his head sadly. "I'd really like to stay but Kakashi and Genma said we have to go back to the village to report to old man Hokage."

Both continued to apologize profoundly to him, but Harry quickly waved them off.

"It's okay. I've got Ron; besides you guys are coming back after the Holidays. Right?"

Hermione and Naruto both gave him identical smiles.

"Of course." Hermione replied.

"I'll think about it." Naruto said matter-of-factly.

Harry shrugged. "Then don't sweat it!"

He really was going to miss those two.

* * *

"My birthday's October Tenth." Naruto said, shrugging.

Hermione gave him a shocked look. "And you didn't mention it until now? It's been two months since then!"

Naruto shrugged once again. "I don't really celebrate it."

Harry felt a pang of familiarity as Hermione continued to prod.

"And why not? It's your birthday!"

"I didn't really have anybody to celebrate it with." Naruto admitted, ears slightly pink. He continued on to explain how he was an orphan his whole life and how most of the people in the village didn't seem to like him all that much.

Hermione's face was one of complete shock when he had finished his story.

"It doesn't make a difference anyways." He finished indifferently. "I don't really care that much for birthday parties. Either way, I've got to go meet Genma at the library. Bye guys."

Hermione was barely able to speak as he left.

Turning to her two friends she gave them a determined look.

"We're throwing him a birthday party."

He decidedly gave her a confused look to match with Ron's.

"What?"

"It's the right thing to do! Considering that he doesn't have parents to do this for him, I think we owe him this!"

"But he's leaving 4 days. Think we can get one ready that quick?"

Hermione nodded to Ron's question.

"Of course! We can throw it in your bedroom. There's enough space, right?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess. But there's probably only enough room for a couple of people."

"Great. Ron, you're in charge of keeping him busy today and tomorrow. Do whatever you've got to do to make sure he doesn't come to his room before 8 tomorrow evening. Is that clear?"

Ron nodded enthusiastically.

"Harry you're with me. We're going to be doing most of the planning and getting the presents. Do you think Fred and George would be willing to help?"

Harry grinned. "Well they _are _in the middle of a prank war with Naruto and considering that Naruto turned their robes pink… I think I can convince them to put up a truce for tomorrow."

"Great. Let's to work."

Fred and George were fairly difficult to find. Though in the end, Harry and Hermione had spotted them in the Transfiguration hallway setting up some sort wire trap. Convincing them to help, however, was a much easier task. The twins were very fond of Naruto and had no qualms with throwing him a first-rate party.

After agreeing that they would handle the cake and decorations, the two set out to leave the twins in peace.

Their next target was Genma and Kakashi. Genma was found where he usually spent most of his time: in the library. The jounin had easily agreed to the plan and offered to convince Kakashi for them.

With that the plan was set.

* * *

"Ron…don't take this the wrong way, but what the hell's wrong with you?"

The red-haired boy gave a sarcastic laugh and a glare at the blond soon-to-be ninja's comment.

"Oh, no – I'm not insulted at all." His voice dripped with sarcasm to match his laugh.

Naruto sighed. What the hell was wrong with that boy today? Every time Naruto had suggested the go up to the common room to relax a little his companion had shook his head and continued to lead him in circles around the castle, not bothering to disclose where they were headed. It was almost 8:30 for God's sake! They basically had about half an hour before curfew (for first years at the very least).

"Here we are." Ron declared triumphantly, snapping Naruto out of his train of thought.

He looked up to see…the portrait hole to their common room.

"You're…kidding, right?"

Ron gave him a quizzical look.

"About what mate?"

Naruto gave him a quick glare and turned his back to his friend. It was all he could do from strangling the life out of him.

"Newteyes." Ron stated amusedly. The Fat Lady nodded and flipped the portrait open immediately.

Naruto quickly rushed ahead of his companion. At this moment all he wanted to do was go to sleep. Ignoring Ron's shouts, he ran for the boys' dormitory, taking two steps at a time he had reached his room in less then a minute. He would finally be able to revel in the comfort of his four-poster bed!

Instead he was met with the faces of Harry, Hermione, Kakashi, Genma, Fred and George.

All were grinning as they shouted out in unison.

"Surprise!"

It was at this point Ron had caught up to him, grinning.

"Happy belated birthday, Naruto."

* * *

Naruto had spent the majority of his childhood alone.

Although he did get smiles and warm glances from certain people like Old Man Hokage or Old Man Ichiraku and his daughter, he was still lonely. The majority of people who he met couldn't even give him the time of the day. It especially didn't help that he was an orphan. He was the kid with no friends

He was the kid that nobody wanted to talk to.

He was the kid that was never picked for the playground games.

He was the kid that parents warned their kids against playing with.

He was the loner who ate all by himself at lunchtime.

Which was why when he saw the faces of his closest friends, the pile of wrapped presents in the corner, the banner that said 'Happy Birthday Naruto', the cake with eleven candles, the tears had come down before he could top them.

"You okay, Naruto?" Harry asked concernedly.

He laughed and couldn't help but smile.

"I'm great."

* * *

**There you go. What did you think of the Birthday Omake? Just a bit of fluff for all you fluff lovers. It was just something I added to take up space when I remembered that I had forgotten all about Naruto's birthday in case you were wondering what it was about. Though it does have a bit of significance for the next chapter if you think about it. I hope you enjoyed it.**

'**Till next time. When Naruto returns to Konoha.**

**REVIEW!**


	4. Konoha And Back

**Here you guys go. Naruto and friends return to Konoha. Just a heads up. Once again I'm gonna do some editing (I'm not really fond of small chapters), so watch out. Hell I might even do it today. **

**Anyways. Thanks to the reviewers, alerts and favourites. You guys are not so bad (Actually you guys rock but I don't want over-inflate your egos so…). Please keep doing whatever your doing. Review if you have any constructive criticism or questions. I'll do my best to address the issues. And tell you what I'll give off a special recognition to the person who gives me the **_**best**_** review. That means criticism, point out what doesn't make sense at all, what you really like, etc.**

**Just to give out a helping hand, here's what should be in it:**

**-What you liked **_**(Character development, Plot development, certain scenes, etc.)**_**  
-What you disliked **_**(Basically everything above. I'll do my best to explain why I need to keep such things the way they are or may change them; depends.)**_**  
-What I can do to improve. **_**(Include it with the above point if you can. Could be anything. Longer chapters, more in depth characterization, keep it a little more non-canonistic.)  
**_**-Questions on points that confuse you. **_**(This one is pretty self-explanatory so no examples.)**_

**Not that I'm not grateful for the reviews so far (Cuz I totally am!) but it's just that I don't always need a 'great chapter' or 'loved it'. Please try to follow the guidelines above when you make time for your review. **

* * *

**It's Not So Bad to Be Back**

Genma gave a comfortable sigh as they passed through the Konoha gates.

"Hogwarts was great and all but it's good to be back in good old Konoha!" He declared. Kakashi nodded in agreement while Naruto simply gave an indifferent shrug.

It had been several days since Naruto's birthday party, days which had actually travelled by quite fast when he thought about it. Wednesday had come by fairly fast and as reluctant as Naruto was to leave the ancient castle they had to leave to report to the Hokage.

There method of travel was once again portkey, which though unpleasant was a very quick and effective method of travel. That was definitely something Naruto had to learn to make. Though, he had to remember to ask Dumbledore if there were easier alternative ways to it. He did remember Snape telling him that some people never got used to that sort of travel and he was fairly certain he was one of those people.

But either way, he, Naruto and-

"Kakashi?" Genma called, frowning as he looked around. The older jounin was nowhere to be seen.

"He said he was gonna go report to the old man." Naruto spoke up. "He also said that because of that I'm your responsibility."

Genma's right eye twitched. That dirty little rat bas-

"What're we gonna do?" Naruto asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Luckily he had just the idea.

"Come on, Naruto. We're going to go train."

He paled slightly and immediately glared at him.

"My vacation… and you want me to work?" He asked incredulously.

This in turn made Genma roll his eyes.

"Not ninja training, dummy. Wizard training. Just follow me."

With that he led Naruto to one of his favourite training grounds. Close to a pond with very little trees surrounding it the clearing was quite useful for training extremely dangerous jutsus, or in this case, spells in.

All in all, the perfect place for what he was going to have Naruto practice.

But first-

"All right, Naruto. I've got a present for you." Sure enough, the blond immediately lighted up and was bouncing up and down, excited to see what his gift would be.

Grinning, Genma reached into his pack and handed him a fairly small case the size of Naruto's arm.

Naruto grinned and quickly opened the case to find…

"Some arm glove thingy?" Naruto wondered aloud, looking at the alleged arm glove thingy.

"Close but not quite. It's a wand-holster. I worked together with some seventh year Hufflepuffs to make it. Here." He grabbed the holster and quickly strapped it onto Naruto's arm. "It can be hidden beneath your arm sleeves and it's pretty well enchanted. Basically it'll grow with you for the next couple of years, at least until you're around fifteen and is enchanted to be strong and nearly impossible to tear. But that's not the best part. Here, give me you're wand."

Naruto quickly reached into his pocket and handed it to the jounin, who just as quickly strapped and locked it onto the holster.

"Basically, it'll never fall off unless you truly will it to. Then the strap is openable, but that still isn't the best part. The best part is that you won't even need to draw it to use magic."

Naruto's eyes immediately widened. "I can do wandless magic?"

Genma grinned. "Sort of. You can feel part of it touching your arm, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good, then this'll work completely.'

"You see, Naruto, one very important thing that I learned while I was in that library is that for most spells you don't need to wave a wand and shout an incantation. So long as the wand is basically touching your skin in some way then you have a fairly strong amount of control over the spell. Hell, as long as you have the intent for it, you don't even need to _say _an incantation. But both take a lot of effort and practice, the latter more than the former, so we will simply practice using magic with your wand in you holster."

Genma once again reached into his pack and this time took out a fairly large scroll.

"Inside of this is a bunch of spells that Kakashi and I have copied down from the library and before you say it, yes we asked. It contains many spells that are extremely useful. I actually four more scrolls just like this one but _this _one is mostly basic spells. The first and second year kind. All of them are for you and there _will _be more to come; we still haven't been to the restricted section yet, you know."

At this point he paused to let the information sink in and observe Naruto's reaction. He noticed that the boy wasn't even looking at him and was being uncharacteristically quiet.

"You alright, Naruto?" Genma asked worriedly to the blond. Was too much info for him to handle?

"I…Am...Going…To…Be…The…Strongest Hokage ever!" He grinned and started guffawing.

Genma gave a small sigh. _Guess there's nothing to worry about._

"Naruto," He called, ending the evil laughter (thank God there was nobody else around), "You can start with spell number three. Practice with normally and when you feel like you got the hang of it, put your wand in the holster. Aim at the pond. I mean it." With that he tossed Naruto the scroll and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Naruto called to his back.

"Eh? I'm pretty hungry so…" _Dammit, not the puppy eyes. _

He sighed.

"You want something?"

"RAMEN!"

* * *

Naruto grinned at Genma's retreating figure. For too long did he have to put up without ramen. That wasn't to say Hogwarts food was bad. It was actually amazing! Great! Phenomenal! He just liked ramen better.

With another heavenly sigh at the thought of his favourite dish, he quickly turned back to his scroll. Spell number three…

_Water Creation Spell? Boring._

He scrolled down to the next one.

_Incendio, huh…_

* * *

"Sir, your order's ready." The voice of the ramen hostess cut Genma out of his thoughts.

"Thanks." Genma gave her a friendly smile before taking a quick look in the bag she held out in front of her. "Naruto better like miso." He mumbled.

The hostess froze. "Did you just say, Naruto? As in Uzumaki Naruto?"

Genma nodded, frowning. "Is there a problem?" He asked politely.

The hostess grinned and shook her head.

"He's back though? I mean he told me he'd be gone a lot longer…"

Genma shrugged. "He's only here for a week." _How would the brat know her? She's old enough to know about the Kyuubi. More importantly: She's hot! _He quickly shook off the thought as fast as it came. _I've been hanging out with Kakashi too much._

"…He really should write, wherever he goes! Of course I doubt he realizes how much Dad and I miss him but still!" He returned just in time to hear her finish triumphantly.

"If you want I can say hi for you." He offered. "But first, how much do I owe you?"

She rapidly gave him a dazzling smile.

"Nothing. Considering it my belated birthday present for him! Tell him to visit sometime this week, though!"

Genma nodded and thanked her before leaving.

He had nearly reached the training ground when a thought hit him. He had forgotten to ask for her name! It would look pretty stupid if he ran all the way back for that now…

_Oh, well. Maybe Naruto can introduce me sometime… _

He was snapped away from his musings by a ball of fire the size of the ramen stand he was just at flying directly at him.

* * *

"Three seconds." A very pissed Genma stated. "You have three seconds to explain why you sent giant ball of fire towards me."

He had escaped fairly easily though the ramen had spilled inside the bag and was now currently leaking. Though because he had set it down immediately after he had dodged the flames and Naruto was too horrified to look him in the eye, the blond was unaware of the fact.

"Umm…well…heh, you see…" Naruto didn't seem to be able to speak in coherent sentences as he stared shame-faced at his feet.

"That wasn't spell number three, was it?" Genma gave a weary groan at Naruto's sheepish grin. "Naruto…which spell was it?" He asked as he grabbed the scroll from beside the boy.

"Spell number six…" Naruto mumbled in a _very_ low voice.

"Spell number six! The fire-starter! Naruto that spell is dangerous! The reason I chose the water creation one is because it's relatively harmless!"

He paused as some information caught his eye.

"Naruto, are you sure it was spell number six? Because if it was then it shouldn't have been very big at all and it shouldn't have been shaped like a fireball. It's a fire-starter. It burns things."

Naruto nodded vigorously, only now daring to look up.

"It is! Honestly!" He swore.

Genma raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Tell me _exactly _what happened after I left."

Naruto nodded and quickly began his tale. "Right after you left I kind of got bored with the Water spell and moved ahead to the Fire one. It was pretty easy to do with a wand but after I put it in my holster it got _way_ harder. I mean, every five seconds I had to concentrate to keep my chakra from mixing into the spell and it was re-"

"Wait just one second there," Genma interjected, "You're telling me that you can mix your chakra into your spells?"

Naruto once again gave an affirmative as Genma's anger was quickly replaced with curiosity. This was _quite _a discovery

"Naruto," Genma said, his anger quickly dissipated, "You may have just accidentally came up with the greatest discovery of your life."

At Naruto's confused look he quickly elaborated.

"Apparently if you mix your chakra into a spell, the spell is strengthened to a substantial point basically making it larger and perhaps stronger. Though this only an assumption based on one spell we still have time to test my theory out."

"Err…Okay?"

Genma sighed.

"Chakra makes spells bigger and stronger."

"Well, why didn't you say so? Man, I have got to try this with other spells!" Naruto exclaimed as he pounced at the scroll Genma was holding, only to miss by an inch as Genma held it above his head, far from his reach.

"Naruto. This is serious stuff, okay? When I tell you to do something you follow my instructions exactly. Is that clear?"

He was answered with a quick determined nod.

"Good. Then let's get started."

* * *

Genma was fairly pleased by the end of the day. After nearly an hour of practice Naruto was finally able to perform the water spell without the need to draw his wand. Though whenever he added chakra into it the spell immediately went haywire and shot huge icicles towards its target. After several other spells (including the infamous fire-starter spell) Genma had discovered the problem behind this.

"It seems that your chakra gives off different reactions to each spell," He explained, "I think that it's because your chakra has a slight affinity for wind. That would definitely explain why it super-powered _Incendio_ and turned _Aguamenti_ into icicles."

After further experimentation it was also discovered that adding chakra seemed to only take affect on certain spells; when they tried it out on _Stupefy_ nothing seemed to happen (though Naruto could have sworn that the chakra-laced one moved a bit faster!).

By the end of the day Naruto was easily able to use three spells while keeping his wand in its holster: _Incendio, Aguamenti, Stupefy _and _Lumos_ (which also did pretty much nothing in particular when Naruto added chakra to it). Genma had told him that they would try them out it in a spar the next day to see how they worked in battle.

After treating Naruto to ramen (he had cried for nearly half an hour when he was told that Genma had spilled it when the fireball had hit him) and learning the Ramen Waitress's name was Ayame (score!), Genma had felt generous enough to keep the brat company on the walk to his apartment. He had also decided to help him clean up a little as the boy had not been there for a long time.

Though as soon as they arrived he immediately wished he hadn't.

"Naruto," He groaned, pinching his noise, "What the hell is that smell?"

"Eh?" The blond gave a quick sniff and just as quickly turned green.

"What the hell is that?" Genma repeated forcing back his vomit.

"Err, heh. Well…"

"Well what?"

"Remember how before we left I decided to go out with one huge prank?"

Who didn't? "The village-wide stinkbomb incident was not appreciated." Genma mumbled, wincing at the memory.

"…Yeah. I kind of…might have left a bunch of them in my closet…and rigged them to go off as soon as somebody opened the door."

"That's why we didn't see anybody on the way?"

"…Probably?" Naruto gave a sheepish grin.

Genma groaned. "Naruto, one of these days…" He trailed off, doing his best to bite back the threat. Luckily he was an expert shinobi taught how to control his emotions.

So instead he gave a weary sigh. "Whatever. I'm out of here." With that he turned around and left, doing his best to ignore the frantic Naruto who shadowed him.

"What about me?" Naruto shouted worriedly.

"Don't care."

"Where am I gonna live?"

"Don't know."

"What am I going to eat?"

"Don't give a damn."

"But I'm just a kid!" Naruto continued on hysterically.

Genma sighed and turned to the eleven year old.

"Naruto-" He started but was quickly cut off.

"Why, oh, why me?"

"Naruto-"

"Why must fate always attack the handsome ones? Why?"

"Naruto-"

"What of the children? Please sir think of the ch-"

"NARUTO!" Genma barked, finally getting the boy out his reverie.

"…Yes?"

Genma groaned internally. He was going to regret this. A lot.

"You can stay with me until you find a better place."

"Really?" Naruto asked voice laced with gratitude.

"Yes. But that means some ground rules. First off, yo-"

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Naruto shouted as he jumped onto Genma, fully intent on giving him a hug to express his gratitude.

Yup. He was probably going to regret this.

* * *

"Took you long enough." Kakashi remarked to the bandana-adorned Tokubetsu Jounin.

The masked Jounin quickly ducked to avoid a bat to the head, though never bothering to rip his eyes away from the book in his hand the entire time.

"And I wonder whose fault that is?" Genma sarcastically hissed, not bothering to contain his hateful glare. Kakashi simply smirked at this (though his mask hid most of the action).

"So do I, Genma. So do I."

Genma's half formed retort was cut off by the hoarse whisper of one of the ANBU who entered the hallway.

"The Hokage will see you both now."

Giving one last hateful look to the silver-haired shinobi Genma stalked through the doors, said silver-haired shinobi trailing behind.

Though quickly enough the two found their positions in front of the Hokage. Both noted the presence of his two advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. The side presence of the old war-hawk Danzou was not missed as well.

"I thank you both for arriving on _time_." The Third Hokage said graciously, knowing that it was no small feat for the silver-haired jounin.

"Hold on a minute. I thought this meeting was at six?" Kakashi interrupted confusedly.

Koharu and Homura shared identical frowns at the statement while the Third simply chuckled. Danzou, on the other hand, simply remained emotionless.

"I figured you'd be late, so I told you the meeting time was three hours earlier." It was Genma's turn to smirk as his friend glared.

"Nonetheless," Sarutobi cut in, effectively ending the two's argument, "It is still good to have you both here. Now, though Kakashi gave me a well-made report yesterday, I will need a repetition of it starting from the day you left Konoha. You may both contribute as you see fit."

Genma nodded and began to explain the events which followed from the departure from Konoha months ago. He slowly described their method of travel, which Danzou seemed particularly impressed by, and talked of what they had learned about the Wizarding world from Snape at Diagon Alley.

"So the Elemental Countries are all hidden from another world which is hidden from _another? _This is most interesting…" Homura remarked, put deep in thought by the revelation.

Several minutes later he was interrupted again as he was describing Naruto's vault at Gringotts.

"How rich exactly is he?" Danzou asked curiously, a slight gleam in his eye that Genma could not comprehend.

"He is most likely richer than the every single clan in Konoha combined. He could buy more than half the city if he wanted to. Though he isn't allowed full access of it until the age of seventeen. Until then he is given a monthly allowance of 15 galleons a month." He answered.

From that point on he continued on to the Hogwarts express and the infrastructure of Hogwarts, explaining about its classes, teachers, teaching methods and so on and so forth. He further went to explain Naruto's sorting and his making of many friends (a fact which made Sarutobi smile none-too-hesitantly). When asked about the boys progress grade-wise it was Kakashi who answered.

"He is doing very well actually. Though he doesn't do his homework and study as diligently as he should he is still placed in the top eight of most of his classes. That is out of the twenty-so students in there. Potions and Charms seem to be his specialty, however. He's tied for the top mark on both of them. The former with one Draco Malfoy and the latter with one of his close friends Hermione Granger."

"And as for his ninja training?" Koharu interjected.

"I haven't really got any complaints for that as well. I would say that so far he should be able to match with any other academy student out here taijutsu-wise. Though I have to add that he does have a bit of a weakness for Genjutsu. Using and defending against. As for the academy jutsus however, I have already had him master the Henge and he is mere days away from mastering the Kawarami. By the end of the school term he will have accomplished the bunshin as well."

Koharu nodded, appeased.

Genma carried on from that point, talking about the events that passed up until the Christmas Holidays, Naruto's mastery of spells, the arm-holster and their recent discovery yesterday.

"You say that his chakra has a special effect on his spells?" Sarutobi inquired curiously. Kakashi seemed just as surprised having not been with him and Naruto yesterday.

Genma nodded. "It seems to have a particular effect depending on what the spell is and on some occasions it has no effect at all. I believe this to be because Naruto's chakra has a natural inclination to wind."

"Interesting. Have you had him tested?" Danzou prodded.

"No but if I may, would it be possible to do so tomorrow? I don't have any of the paper on me but I'm certain that we can find some somewhere around the village."

Sarutobi nodded. "We will do such a thing first thing tomorrow. But as for more personal matters, how is Naruto? Permission to speak freely."

Genma gave a small smile. "Honestly sir, I don't think he's ever been happier. This magic thing was possibly the best thing to ever happen to him and I'm sure he'd agree if he was here right now."

"Where is he right now?"

Genma's smile quickly lost fifty percent of its gleam at Kakashi's question.

He gave the other shinobi a half-hearted glare before answering.

"If you must know, he's at my place."

This resulting raised eyebrows from all the other occupants of the room.

"And why would that be Tokubetsu Jounin Shiraunui Genma?" Homura inquired being the first to gather his wits.

"Well…I don't think I need to remind you of the prank Naruto commmited before he left-"

Slight winces were given by every other member of the room (except for Danzou who simply gave a disapproving frown) as he continued.

"-As it turns out he left behind a nice little supply of it in his closet, rigged to blow as soon as somebody opened the door."

Sarutobi give a small groan and massaged his forehead with one hand.

"Since when we arrived there the apartment smelled like…I don't think there's a word invented that can describe something that bad." Genma represses a shudder. "Anyways, because he begged me and because I doubt even Kakashi would leave a kid to that kind of fate, I let him stay at my place."

Sarutobi nodded approvingly and for the slightest of seconds Genma could have sworn he had seen a lightbulb shining on top of the old Hokage's head.

"Genma," Sarutobi started, an uncharacteristically conniving gleam in his eye, "How would you like to earn some extra cash?"

* * *

"So I get to stay with you? As in for the summer too? In this place?" Naruto asked excitedly, gesturing to the huge house (the Hokage had offered it to him as compensation) with his hands.

Genma internally screamed before answering. There was no way he was going to let this happen. Having spent entire months with the blond he knew how annoying he could get. But thinking of the house… and the money…

"Y-Yes, Naruto…Nothing….would…make me…happier."

_Think of the money…_

"WHOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto happily shouted as he jumped onto the Tokubetsu Jounin.

_Think of the money…And the cute ramen girl…_

* * *

"I don't really get why we have to go get me tested…I mean, I'm perfectly healthy!" Naruto complained as Genma dragged him out of his (their) new house.

"Its got nothing to do with your health at all! How many times do I have to explain this? We are going to get you tested for you chakra affinity! Nothing else!" Genma nearly shouted, his patience wearing thin with the blond.

"…No need to yell. I'm right beside you, you know?"

Genma bit back a chain of swears that would had had his dead grandmother rolling in her grave of Konoha and simply continued to lead the blond to Private Training Area 12, the Hokage's personal training ground. Upon their arrival they were greeted with the faces of Kakashi, Danzou, Homura, Koharu and the Third.

"Naruto," Sarutobi greeted, smiling warmly, "It is great to see you again. How was your school?"

Naruto grinned excitedly.

"It was awesome! I learned so many new things and got a lot of cool spells there! Did you know I can make fire?" With that he aimed his wand at a nearby tree.

_"Incendio!" _

To the surprise and astonishment of the adults in the area (sans Genma, having already seen the trick) the tree immediately burst on fire.

"Impressive." Danzou commented at the blaze. "A jutsu would have taken twice as long."

"I can make the fire ten times bigger." Naruto boasted proudly.

Danzou looked even more impressed as a sudden gleam come into his eye.

"Is this magic learnable?" He inquired.

"No," Genma immediately answered, "It is a hereditary trait which can only be passed on from parent to child, though it _does _sometimes show up on a non-magical family every so often."

Danzou gave a regretful sigh. "Sad. Konoha could have used that kind of power."

Naruto frowned over to the man. "Sorry if I'm being rude, but who are you sir?"

_Is he actually being polite? _Genma wondered in amazement.

Sarutobi gave a small laugh. "I see Hogwarts has taught you manners as well, Naruto." The blond glared and stuck his tongue out at the old Hokage. "Well allow me to introduce my colleagues."

He waved a hand towards the man behind him. "This is one of my faithful advisors, Mitokado Homura." The man nodded curtly.

The Third then gave a gesture to the woman beside the man. "This is another faithful advisor of mine, Utatane Koharu." Koharu gave a curt nod as well.

"And this," He continued, "Is Danzou. A very powerful and influential shinobi who helps in my ruling of Konoha." Danzou gave a small emotionless smile.

"Uh, it's nice meet you all." Naruto greeted in slight uncertainty. "Why are they all here?" He asked, turning to Genma.

Danzou answered instead.

"There are a lot of people in Konoha who have invested interest into your education in the Wizarding World. Blelieve me when I say you will be seeing a lot of us in the near future."

"If we may get down to business," Sarutobi inerrupted, "There is a reason that we have brought you here today."

"To test my chakra right?"

"That is part of it. Though we will definitely get to that, it is also the request of my colleagues have requested that we put you through several tests to see how you fare mentally and physically. We need to see how well you rank as a shinobi." Sarutobi explained.

Naruto gave the explanation a bit of thought before responding.

"Does this mean I don't need to go to the ninja academy anymore?"

Sarutobi gave a small laugh. "No, Naruto. Unless you somehow seem to be at chunnin level, you're stuck at the academy. Not to worry though, Genma tells me you're one jutsu shy of passing the academy exam."

Genma gave an internal groan. _Wasn't his ego big enough already? God, he will not shut up about this for an hour._

Luckily Naruto's smug rant was cut off by Sarutobi.

"Are you ready?"

Naruto instead gave a confident nod.

* * *

The tests went by fairly well in Naruto's opinion. Though they were pretty time-consuming, he was able to complete most of them at an exceptional level for somebody his age, at least that was what they had told him.

The first thing they did was give him a piece of paper and ask him to add chakra into it. He did and after nearly half a minute the paper split in two. None of the adults looked the least bit surprised and told him that it meant that his chakra was naturally aligned with wind and that was his element. When he asked what that meant, he was given an extremely boring and extensive lecture by Kakashi on Chakra and its Elemental Affinities. He immediately made a note to himself afterwards to never ask a question again in front of that man.

Afterwards they had him spar with Kakashi to see how his taijutsu fared. In his personal opinion he did really well considering that he wasn't on the floor in less then ten seconds like they expected. The two advisors seemed especially impressed and even asked if he used a particular style.

He answered them, saying that Kakashi taught him a special style which relied on his instincts and speed. They said his taijutsu was Genin-leveled and could possibly be Chunin in a few years.

The next test had to do with his ability to repel and defeat Genjutsu and even he had to admit that he sucked. He barely got out of the extremely weak ones and couldn't survive when they handed him anything past Genin-level. When asked to use them he did just as poorly. Genjutsu was officially not his thing.

Afterwards they had him show off his magic skills. This was where he _really _thought he shined. Spell after spell easily escaped his lips and he knew that by the end of it they were all generally impressed. Especially when he showed off his chakra-laced Incendio. That Danzou guy looked particularly impressed by it.

Finally they ended the day by asking him some questions. This seemed more for informational uses then a real test when he thought about it, considering that it was done in a pretty much interview-like manner.

"How do you like your school?" Was the first question, jovially asked by the Old Man.

"Great! Everyone's really cool and I do pretty well in my classes."

"How are the classes? Informative? D they teach well?" Asked Koharu.

"Uh, they're okay. The teachers are pretty helpful and the stuff we learn is pretty interesting."

"Are there any problems there?" The Old Man asked.

"Nah. Nothing's wrong with it."

The interview followed in that fashion. The four adults asked him more questions about his favourite class, how he spent his free time there, who his friends were, etc. Though often they steered away from personal questions to ask about how his progress magically was and if he thought that he could handle himself without tutors next years. He had confidently said yes but could tell that they were slightly in doubt of that.

Soon enough though, the interview had ended and he and Genma were given permission to go home.

Plus because of his persistence they had gotten ramen on the way back.

That was definitely a plus.

* * *

Naruto gave out a relaxed sigh as he set himself down on the couch.

"It's good to be home."

Life was good. He had a cool school. Tons of friends. An awesome house. And he had just eaten a dozen bowls of ramen.

"A home that you do realize _I _pay for," Genma's voice interjected, pulling him out his wonderful thoughts of ramen, "And I'm not sure I'll be able to do that anymore considering the way you eat."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "I thought the Old Man gave this to you?"

"That's true but did you really think he would pay for lighting, electricity and water bills? I'll give you a hint: no."

He could only grin sheepishly. "Sorry?"

Genma rolled his eyes. "Go to bed early. We've got a _long _day ahead of us considering that I'm taking you to buy some clothes."

"I don't need new clothes!"

The Tokubetsu Jounin stared incredulously at him.

"…You're kidding, right? You've only got two pairs of shorts and three shirts that don't smell like a cow's ass! It would be a different matter altogether, though, if you _didn't_ leave a massive supply of stinkbombs at your old place, but since you _had _to: we're going clothes shopping tomorrow."

He managed a half-hearted scowl before heading to his room.

* * *

True to his word Genma had taken the blond soon-to-be ninja to a nearby clothing store. Though the boy had whined and complained at first, he had quickly lost his reluctance after the first ten minutes when it was understood that _he _would be the ones picking out his clothes. Genma honestly didn't care that much about what he picked out. They first had went to a civilian clothes store, which Naruto had whined about until Genma told him that being able to blend in as a civilian was skill shinobi needed. The whisker-faced boy had settled for picking out several pairs of jeans, shorts, t-shirts and even some more formal wear. After that was done they headed out to a nearby shinobi clothes store. In this one Genma was not so offhand with his picks.

"How about that?" Naruto asked excitedly, gesturing to a nearby orange and blue jumpsuit.

Genma looked at this younger companion incredulously.

"…You want to wear _that_?"

The blond nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay. I get that you like orange and all, but _this_ is just taking it too far."

With that he dragged his shorter, reluctant, companion to another section of the store. It took nearly a half-hour before Genma had finally grudgingly allowed him to buy one of his choices.

It was similar to the other out fit that Naruto had picked out, a fact that appeased Genma none the slightest. New pitch black shinobi sandals adorned his feet, accompanied by equally dark shinobi-style pants covered the lower half of his body while a dark blue dark blue sleeveless shirt enclosed by a hooded orange and black jacket covered the upper portion. It costed quite a bit but luckily for Genma, Naruto was more then willing ot pay him back and he had already copied down charms that would make the clothes grow as Naruto grew. Considering Naruto's amazing affinity for carms he only needed the outfit in his current size.

"Not bad." Genma grudgingly complimented. It suited him…in a Naruto-ish way.

The blond gave a triumphant smirk in place of a response. Genma scowled back.

* * *

The next week passed by fairly swiftly and before Naruto knew it, it was time to return back to Hogwarts and his friends.

He felt a sense of déjà vu as he stood in front of the front gates of Konoha listening to Sarutobi lecture him about staying out of trouble and not slacking off at school. Genma and Kakashi stood by with Professor Snape waiting for his conversation to finish several meters away.

"…And for the love of Kami, Naruto, _no pranking_. Please?" The Old Hokage finished.

"Uh huh. Yeah. Totally. Got it."

"…You didn't hear anything of what I've been saying, have you?"

Naruto gave a sheepish grin. To this Sarutobi sighed.

"Just take care of yourself, Naruto." He gave the boy's already messy hair one last ruffle before motioning him to leave. Naruto nodded and hurried to where the three men were waiting.

With Snape's quick mutter of 'Dragon Scales' they disappeared.

Sarutobi gave one last drained sigh before turning to walk back into his village.

* * *

**If you are thinking about the outfit just imagine Naruto's outfit in Shippuden except with black pants and a hood. Basically you can consider it _the _outfit (you know; the one a main character wears every single episode. Like Canan!Naruto's jumpsuit) except Naruto will only be wearing it in Konoha or on missions or whenever he feels like it. I hope I described it well enough though.**

**And just to explain the whole arm-wand-holster thing; I honestly don't think it's practical for Naruto to basically carry the wand and draw it every five seconds every time he wants to fight. Wands aren't really that hard to snap (think Ron Weasley, Book Two) and it would be a hell lot easier to take Naruto down when the enemy knows his weakness. That was how I came up with the as long-as-a-wand-is-touching-some-part-of-you-and-you-have-unbreakable-intent-you-can-cast-spells theory. **

**If have any questions I'm more then happy to reply to them. **

**'Till next time. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I'll be honest with you guys. This is most likely the most boring and least important chapter in the entire story. I can't say I'm all that impressed with it but in consolation; this **_**is**_** the last chapter for the first year...so…yeah. Hope it doesn't seem too hasty but I just couldn't bear to flesh it out any further. Knowing myself I would probably mess it up. Good news is that the next chapter is not very canonistic at all. **

**First off, I gotta give props to Nozume for the best review of the last chapter. She pointed out some things that I'm sure a lot of you are thinking. Everyone else is also greatly appreciated for their reviews and are equally awesome.**

**Some questions to be answered:**

**Let's look at this logically now; if you are wondering why Naruto is so magically inept, I stand to reason that he comes from a long line of great (pureblood) wizards, just as Tom Riddle did. In my opinion, one of the reasons that Tom Riddle is so powerful is because of the fact that he comes from such an old and powerful family, direct descendants of Slytherin, himself. All those generations of inbreeding had to have done something for his magical prowess. Naruto is similar in the way that the family from his mother's side was an old pureblood Wizarding family, with lots of inbreeding and such (a lot like the Malfoys and Blacks) and built up magical energy through the generations. He is NOT a direct descendant of Slytherin, though, just to put off any rumours of that.**

**I might also add that a lot of you probably assume that the Kyuubi is **_**bad **_**for his magic. Not necessarily. Though I don't want to give anything away this early, I can say that the Kyuubi is not going to be interfering for a while. That will come in somewhere in the beginning of third year.**

**As for the rest of the Naruto cast; I'm probably going to put a few scenes of them during the summer, though they won't really **_**appear**_ **until the summer of second year.**

**To the rest of my readers, reviewers, alerters, favouriters, etc: **

**Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy.**

**-=-=-=-=-=-**

**Back at Hogwarts**

Though Naruto had enjoyed his Christmas Holiday (all things considered, it was a whole lot better then he expected), he was absolutely _ecstatic _to be back at Hogwarts with his friends.

"Naruto!" Hermione had greeted when she had found him sitting alone in a compartment. "It's so great to see you again!" She gave him a quick hug before settling down on the seat across from him. He gave her a genuine smile. He had to admit he missed her, though he dared not say it knowing how girly she could at times.

"How was your vacation?" He asked conversationally.

She beamed. "Great! Father took us all to a nearby ski resort for some winter fun!" Naruto gave her a puzzled look.

"Skee?" The word felt unfamiliar on his tongue.

Hermione frowned.

"They don't have skiing back in Konoha?" Hermione asked curiously.

Naruto shook his head. "Don't think so. Though it doesn't even snow there now that I think about it…" He trailed off, frowning.

She looked appalled at the thought but some other thought seemed to have crossed her mind as her entire face lit up like a bulb.

"Oh! I have something for you!" This immediately brought on Naruto's attention as he leaned forward eagerly. "I saw this there and realized that I hadn't bothered to get you or Harry or Ron any Christmas presents…so here you go!" She exclaimed, holding out in her hand a transparent glass globe displaying what he assumed was the resort she was talking about.

Naruto gave her a curious look. She gave the globe a little shake.

Quite suddenly snow started to fall and soon enough the globe seemed to have developed some sort of snowstorm. Naruto gave it astonished look.

"Is it charmed?"

Hermione shook her head. "It's a muggle invention, believe it or not!"

Naruto looked surprised. He was under the impression that muggles were a whole lot weaker and less advanced then both the Wizarding Society and Elemental Countries.

Another hit him. "Hermione, what's Christmas."

She gave him a look one might give somebody who was missing an arm.

"…You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. I suppose I've been wondering what it was considering that we get two whole weeks off for it. I don't think we celebrate it in my country, at least not in Konoha."

"…You're kidding, right?"If she was appalled at the thought of no skiing in Konoha, she was horror-struck by this revelation.

Naruto simply shook his head in response.

Hermione gave him a pitiful look before starting her explanation. She explained how it was an annual holiday that commemorated the birth of a very important person (she didn't bother with the name because she knew it would just confuse him more) and was widely celebrated throughout the Wizarding and Muggle populations. She then proceeded to highlight the many modernized customs of the holiday, such as gift-giving and Christmas trees and such. She even touched up a bit up on the (muggle) child-hood myth of Father Christmas, which in Naruto's opinion was pretty disappointing considering it wasn't real. Though he wasn't exactly jumping at the idea of some guy sneaking into his house when he was asleep, he _was _a proud advocate of free presents.

By the end of it Naruto was at cross between being amazed such an extensive holiday and disappointed he couldn't experience it in Konoha. Another thought hit him seconds after that though.

"I didn't get you a present." He exclaimed and threw her and apologetic look.

She laughed it off.

"I'll let it slide because you didn't know this time, but that doesn't excuse you from next year!" She ended off with a good-natured threat. Naruto grinned in response.

The rest of the trip back was more or less uneventful. They talked about their vacation, greeted a few familiar faces and soon enough they found themselves in the Great Hall heading to the Gryffindor Table, where Ron and Harry sat, waving to them excitedly.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Genma gave a small relieved sigh as he and Genma sat themselves down at the Teacher's Table. It was nice to sit down after such a long trip. He stared down across the Great Hall where Naruto was seated chatting with his friends.

_Good. _He thought. _Gives him time to bother somebody else _other _then me._

He was pulled out from his thoughts by the squeaky sound of Professor Flitwick's voice.

"Ah, Genma, how are you? I trust your trip back was pleasant." The tiny Charms Professor greeted jovially.

Genma grinned. He and Flitwick had gotten along marvellously, surprisingly enough. The shorter Wizard was very welcoming when he had first met him and still continued to be supportive throughout the year, patiently answering any of his inquiries helpfully and guiding him around the castle if he really needed it. He could easily see why he was Naruto's favourite teacher.

"How've you been, Filius?" His tone was equally jovial.

"Quite healthy, if I might say so myself. I trust you've been just as well?"

"As well as somebody can be when they have to spend two whole weeks with Naruto." Flitwick gave him a baffled expression.

"The boy can be quite the handful, but he's not my favourite student for nothing!" Flitwick declared proudly.

"You're his favourite teacher, you know?" Genma stated amusedly.

Flitwick simply beamed in response.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"So this is an invisibility cloak?" Hermione said wondrously, feeling said object in her hands.

Naruto looked equally impressed when she wrapped the cloak around her body and gave herself the illusion of a floating head.

"That's awesome." To put it in a simpler term; he was abso-frickin'-lutely awestruck.

Harry grinned. After he had finished telling them about his and Ron's Christmas Holidays, Naruto and Hermione had insisted on seeing the object he had mysteriously obtained for Christmas. He had no qualms with the idea and had boldly led them up to his room to see it.

"Think of all the pranks we can do this thing!" Naruto said excitedly then gave a dark chuckle. "Fred and George are so screwed…"

Hermione gave him an exasperated look. "Are you still on about that prank war fiasco?"

At Naruto's grin she huffed.

"Honestly! Do you know how many points we've lost because of that? Is it really too much to ask for one of you to develop a little thing called a 'brain', be the better wizard and prove that you have _at least_ one tenth the maturity of a three-year-old? "

Naruto gave her a blank look and chose to say exactly Kakashi had taught him to say when he was at the end of a reprimand.

"…Did you say something?" Uh-oh. Judging by Hermione's thunderous expression, it wasn't so successful.

Luckily he was saved by Ron settling himself in between them and handed them both well-wrapped presents.

"Here you go." At their confused looks, he elaborated. "Well, I've been sending my mom a couple of letters to tell how I've been and I might've mentioned you two and she may have sent these as presents for you two."

He threw them an apologetic look which only served to confuse them more.

However in several seconds their unspoken questions were answered as they tore apart the wrapping paper to reveal two near-identical blue sweaters. The only difference was that Naruto's was bright red with a large 'N', while Hermione's was dark blue with an 'H' instead of 'N'.

"Sorry," Ron apologized again, "But she does that for the entire family. If it makes you feel better, Harry got one too."

Hermione gave him a smile and a polite 'thank you'.

Naruto shrugged and tossed on the latest addition to his wardrobe, an act which for some reason made his friends look at him funny. "What?"

"You know you don't have to wear that, right?" Ron said.

Naruto shrugged.

"Your mom went through some trouble to make it. Might as well wear it." He explained simply. Ron accepted that. Hermione sighed and slipped her sweater on as well.

"Send her a thank you note, for us, would you?" She added, facing Ron, who nodded in response.

"So, did _you _two do anything interesting for the Holidays?" Harry said conversationally.

The topic remained there for a fair bit of time as the four friends moved down to the fairly empty common room to talk more comfortably.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Ron and I have figured out something really important about the dog." This immediately caught Naruto and Hermione's attention.

At their inquisitive looks the short dark-haired boy elaborated.

"Well, we were hanging out with Hagrid for a bit and the topic to the third floor corridor and he kind of let it slip that what's hidden only has to do with Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel and that we should let it go if we knew what's good for us."

"And you tell us about this _now_!" Hermione exclaimed. "This is really big news, you know? Not only have you two figured out that the dog is there to guard some_thing_, but that it has to do with some wizard named Nicholas Flamel, whoever that is!"

Naruto frowned. "Wait. I think I've read about him somewhere…" He trailed off in thought.

"We could go to the Hogwarts library," Harry suggested, "Maybe that'll help out your memory."

Hermione nodded approvingly. "The library is definitely the best place to figure something like this out. If he's friends with Dumbledore then no doubt he'll be easy to find. I think I'll start with the Famous Wizards Sec-"

She was caught off by a low rumbling sound.

Harry, Hermione and Ron all turned to see Naruto with a sheepish grin.

"Err- I haven't really eaten for a while…"

Harry and Ron laughed while Hermione rolled her eyes.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Nicholas Flamel. Nicholas Flamel. Nicholas…" Naruto chanted as he searched through the bookshelves in the Famous Wizards Section of the library with Ron. Hermione and Harry sat down right across from them, skimming through each and every one of the books that they laid down.

This had been their pattern for the past week.

"That's it!" Harry exclaimed softly (he had just seen Naruto get reprimanded for a rather louder and rather similar declaration!) as he put down _Famous Wizarding Figures of the 20__th__ Century_.

A defeated sigh rang beside him. "You're right this is becoming pointless."

Neither Harry, Ron nor Naruto bothered to hide the shock that appeared on their faces.

Nobody spoke for about ten seconds.

"H-Hermione?" Naruto asked weakly, as he was the first one to regain his voice. "Are-Are you okay?"

She sent him a quizzical glance. "What?"

"Do you need to lie down?"

She frowned. "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"It-It's just that…well…you just said the library was a waste of time." He gawk matched the two other boys.

The bushy-haired Gryffindor raised an eyebrow. "Yes…"

"Blimey. It's like we've been sent to some alternate dimension." Ron said, looking as if he meant just that.

It was then that Hermione caught on to what they where implying. Sending them each a glare she replied, "Oh, shut up Ronald. Am I not entitled to the slightest bit of contradiction? Lord knows _you all_ use it all the time." She finished, muttering.

"You know, Hermione, you really should stop talking to us like we're seventh-years. Not everybody knows that many big words." Naruto reprimanded, his past fear suddenly forgotten. Though he immediately cowered behind the shorter Harry as she threw a venomous glance her direction.

"To put it into simpler terms, as no doubt you all need, even I can get stressed by the library."

Despite her explanation it took nearly fifteen more minutes to calm the three boys down.

"So, are we really all sure that Nicholas Flamel doesn't exist?" Ron asked around to his friends.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course he exists. If you heard Hagrid right that is."

"We definitely heard him right." Harry responded confidently.

"So this is pretty much impossible." Ron declared.

"Nobody is saying _that_," Hermione said in an exasperated tone, "What we're saying is that Nicholas Flamel may not be that well known of a Wizard. In all honesty, not ever wizard can be famous enough to get their face on a Chocolate Frog Car-"

"Chocolate Frog Card!" Naruto exclaimed, earning them a dark look from Madam Pince.

He gave an apologetic smile before continuing much softer, "Chocolate Frog Card! That's where I've seen him before. Nicholas Flamel is my first Chocolate Frog Card." At their confused looks, he elaborated. "He _is _famous. I have a whole Chocolate Frog Card on him up in my trunk!"

Realization quickly dawned onto his friends' faces and the grinned in excitement.

"Then what are you waiting her for?" Hermione said excitedly. "We'll clean up this mess. Just meet us in the common room after you've got it.

Naruto nodded and left the library in a contained jog, waiting until he was out of Madam Pince's range of vision to break into a full-blown sprint.

He had finally done it! He had figured out who Nicholas Flamel was!

Wasting no time, he arrived into his room in less than five minutes later. Tearing open the lid of his trunk he dug his hands around for the box he kept his collection of magical trinkets in. Fred and George had given it for his birthday and had charmed it so that it had an internal cushioning charm on it. That meant no matter how much he shook the box nothing inside it would break if it hit the walls.

Quick enough he felt the cold touch of steel which indicated he had found it. Opening it quickly, he found Nicholas Flamel at the side of the box lying right beside Morgana le Fey and Claudius Ptolemy.

He gingerly toke it out of the box and, putting everything back in place, rushed back down to the common room. Though he could not see any one of his friends there. Sighing at how he had rushed for no reason he sat himself down at one of the couches and waited for them to arrive for five or so minutes. He had almost decided to start reading it himself when Harry and had taken the place on either side of him. Hermione set herself down beside Harry, looking flushed and completely out of breath.

"So…Sorry…we're…late…"She panted as she took the seat beside Harry.

They gave her a little while to compose herself before Naruto held out the card in front of them clearly visible to see.

"So this is him?" Ron commented at the picture of a smiling bearded man who looked to be in his early sixties.

"_**Nicolas Flamel**__ (c. 1326 - c. Present Date) was a well-known alchemist and only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with incredible powers. Using the Stone he made several powerful magical objects for his personal use, the most famous being the Elixir of Life. He and his wife both owe his considerably lengthy age to the Elixir, which is said to extend the user's life every time he or she drinks it."_

"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's why we didn't find him he's over six hundred years old! There's no way he would be in the modern wizard section."

"So the thing that's being hidden is the Philosopher's Stone!" Naruto surmised conclusively.

"But why hide it _here_?" Hermione argued.

"Hagrid _did _this was the safest place in the world." Harry answered.

"Wait; wait," Naruto said, frowning, "So we know what's hidden, but…"

The other three turned to him expectantly.

"…Who's trying to get it?"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The question asked by Naruto was debatable.

While Harry and Ron were more inclined to believe that Professor Snape was the one after it, Hermione and Naruto (who were actually united on a subject for once) didn't really think that any one of the Professors would go after it.

"Dumbledore probably told them about it." Naruto had reasoned. "Besides, he picks the Professors, doesn't he? I'm pretty sure it would take a_ lot _to get past a guy like him."

Though Ron and Harry had (begrudgingly) agreed, they were still under the slight impression that Snape should be watched.

Despite their discoveries, the four had all come to the agreement that so long as Dumbledore was in the school the stone was more or less safe. They had all agreed to put their investigation on hold in favour of not falling behind school work.

That was how the spent the weeks as they passed by. Studying, chatting and more or less having a normal life.

February had come as quickly as January had ended and Valentine's Day passed by with no problems.

That is, until it was revealed that Professor Snape would be refereeing the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match.

"What!" Harry had exclaimed to the Twins after they had informed him.

"You heard us." Fred said sullenly. "Snape is refereeing the next match."

"You're kidding. Right?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Afraid not, Harry!" George replied looking more distasteful at the prospect than depressed.

"We'll just have show them that Gryffindor doesn't back down even _if_ the ref is a greasy cheating little git!" George proclaimed confidently.

And show them they did. The opposing chasers were utterly _destroyed _by the twins who refused to let up for even a minute and even when they managed to get past the two Gryffindor beaters Oliver himself refused to allow _any _shots in. It was after a mere ten minutes that Harry had found and captured the snitch. In the end the Gryffs had won two hundred to zero.

Life had certainly calmed down quite a bit afterwards, at least until Harry had caught Hagrid in the library.

Peering over the very large man's shoulder he read aloud, _"Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_?_"_

Hagrid had jumped at the sound of his voice and gave him a not-so-intimidating glare.

"Blimey, 'Arry! Ye startled me, y' know?"

"Sorry." Harry said with an apologetic smile. "But what's up with the book? Dragon breeding?"

"Ain't I allowed some bedtime readin'?" Hagrid had responded just a tad bit too defensively.

Harry frowned.

"Hagrid, this is the first time I've _ever _seen you in the library." Harry had deadpanned.

"Shhhh!" Hagrid hissed. "Keep it quiet, will ye? Tell yer what, come down to m' cabin after lunch, allrigh'?"

The large man had then walked away, attempting to keep his head low, which was actually quite difficult considering that he was nearly as tall as a lot of the shelves in the section.

Harry sighed and went back to the common room to talk to his friends about what had happened.

"I think he's gone and done something foolish." He concluded worriedly.

They had quickly slipped out of castle after their meal and had reached there fairly quickly. Discussing about what could Hagrid possibly show them.

Though they weren't exactly _surprised _when Hagrid had proudly shown them the dragon egg, it still came as a bit of a shock to see the object positioned in the heat of the flickering fire. They had left the hut quickly enough and even as they headed towards their afternoon classes the topic was fresh among them.

"How fast do those things grow?" Naruto asked curiously.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno. But size isn't really that big of a deal, you know? It's more of the fact that they can breathe fire."

Hermione nodded. "It does seem truly dangerous. I think I've read somewhere that adult dragons can grow to be the size of the Herbology Greenhouse at the very least."

Harry frowned. "Why would he want a dragon anyways? Are they really that uncommon around here?"

"Actually, they're mostly kept on a Magical Reservoir overseas somewhere, you know? I actually have a-" He paused as his face lit up like a bulb. "Charlie!"

The other three turned to look at him peculiarly. At this he elaborated.

"My older brother Charlie! He works at a Dragon Reserve in Romania! I can owl him and maybe he can help. We just have to convince Hagrid…"

"That's a great idea." Harry agreed.

Naruto frowned.

"I don't know." He said dubiously. "He really seemed to like the idea of keeping it as a pet. It's going to be pretty hard to get him to agree to this."

Ron shook his head. "He and Charlie were best mates when he was at Hogwarts and both of 'em are mad about dragons. There is no way Hagrid won't agree."

"We can ask him if your brother agrees." Hermione interjected diplomatically.

It didn't take too long as Charlie Weasley was quick to reply and had gotten them back a reply in less than a week, which was coincidently the same day that Hagrid had sent word of his dragon impending hatching, something they were all invited to see.

They ran to the cabin and had arrived just in time to see the hatching. Hagrid had joyfully named the hatchling 'Norbert' the Norwegian Ridgeback. Seeing the joy in his face as he done that had almost made the four forget all about Charlie Weasley's offer. But seeing Hagrid beard get caught on fire had jogged their memories.

Hagrid had firmly replied 'no' at first and confidently proclaimed he could raise it properly, but after a hard week, during which the hatchling had almost tripled in size, and several near overnight burnings of his cabin he had reluctantly agreed.

After sending Charlie a letter and obtaining the exact date in which Charlie's friends would arrive to smuggle Norbert out of the country, everything was prepared and they had headed down to Hagrid's to get the hatchling after curfew.

"Jus' make sure 'e gets good care." He had said tearfully on his last moment with Norbert.

They had reassured him as best as they could before set off with the dragon.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, I am very disappointed." Professor McGonagall commented sadly.

The pair in question looked down at their feet guiltily as Filch smirked behind them.

It had been some time since they had dropped off Norbert to Charlie's friends at the top of the Astronomy tower. Immediately on their way down however Harry realized that he had left his invisibility cloak there too. Naruto and Ron, being the fastest of the four offered to rush ahead and get it while the other two waited.

It was agreed but unfortunately they did not count on Filch catching Harry and Hermione while the other two were gone.

"You two are in _serious _trouble! Out of the common room at night? What has Hogwart's youth come to?" The two could not take there eyes of the floor.

"Well?" She barked snapping them out of their thoughts. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"…Sorry?" Harry weakly answered.

McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "Do you think this is funny, Potter? This rule-breaking streak of yours is inexcusable!"

She paused before putting back up her cold no-nonsense exterior.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor each."

This immediately snapped the two into attention.

"B-But, Professor!" Hermione protested.

"No buts. And you will be joining Mr. Malfoy for detention this weekend with Hagrid. Is that understood?" She finished crisply.

The two deflated.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry answered. Hermione seemed unable to speak and under the verge of tears.

"Good. You are both dismissed. Do _not_ let me catch you doing this again."

-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The next day, it seemed as if the other members of their house had found out about McGonagall's deduction of their points and were, to put in simple terms, furious. A lot of people had taken to shoving Harry in the hallway and giving both him and Hermione the cold shoulder.

Though it was reasonably less violent so long as Naruto was around, mainly because the blond had taken to casting a fairly powerful stinging hex at anybody who tried anything physical on either of them (something Harry and Hermione repeatedly thanked him for), many people still did not bother to lower their voices as he walked past.

Amazingly enough, he had gone from one of the most popular students in the entire school to the most hated in his own house.

_Good job, Harry._ He thought. _Way to turn the one place that you actually have people that like you into the Dursleys'._

He could tell Hermione wasn't fairing much better. A lot of where she went she was given jeers and insults right while in the middle of the hallway.

He remembered a particular incident that had earned Ron a detention.

"_Watch it!" A Gryffindor Second Year, whose name escaped Harry, called out as he bumped into Hermione, sending her sprawling out onto the floor. _

_Naruto glared and looked as if he was going to punch the boy when Hermione held up a placating hand. _

_Turning to the elder Gryffindor she coldly spoke._

"_Sorry." _

_The boy sneered. _

"_I don't need apologies from mudblood filth li-" He didn't get any further than that as he was knocked flat courtesy of, surprisingly enough, Ron's fist. _

"_!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, rushing through the hallway to see if the boy was okay. _

_He was, albeit a little bruised. _

_The Transfigurations instructor turned to the red-haired Gryffindor who had caused the bruise. _

"_. Detention. Tonight."_

Ron had explained afterwards how 'mudblood' was quite possibly the most offensive term in Wizarding History.

"It is a disgusting thing to call someone. It's something usually used by pure-bloods and Dark Wizards. Filthy blood, that's what they think of muggle-borns." Fred had told them afterwards. "Honestly can't say I've ever been more proud of Ronniekins." George had nodded in agreement.

Naruto, Harry and Hermione, despite being raised by non-wizards, could tell that this was a serious matter.

If it was enough to make the twins serious for more than three minutes than it _definitely _was.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Hey," Naruto greeted as he sat himself down on the other side of the couch in the common room.

Ron gave a non-committal grunt beside him.

Harry and Hermione had just left for their detention with Hagrid, leaving just Naruto and Ron by themselves. That on its own wasn't a bad thing. It was just that Naruto felt ridiculously guilty for leaving the two in the hallway instead of taking them with him to get the cloak.

"You feel as guilty as I do?" Ron said, as if reading his thoughts.

Naruto shrugged.

"It depends on whether or not it feels as if you're gonna throw up your left lung."

Ron snorted.

"So…nice punch." Naruto said conversationally. He couldn't stand the depressed aura they were giving off.

This seemed to work as Ron grinned.

"You're not the only one who pays attention to Kakashi and Genma, you know."

It was true. Naruto had to admit that Ron and Harry had been working pretty hard to keep up their physical shape. Though it would most likely never be at his level it was still pretty impressive for their age (civilian-wise; shinobi children were still more fit). Harry even seemed to have grown a whole head since the beginning of the year, when he thought about it.

He could still kick their asses, though.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Time passed by after the Flamel discovery and exams had come quick enough. Naruto honestly thought that he did well in most of them. Potions, however, was surprisingly harder than it usually was but he had to have scored well enough considering how much studying Hermione had put him through.

Though he would easily agree to one of her study sessions if it would get him out of the situation he was currently.

"-And what did you write for question 12? I'm pretty sure a bezoar should work on that kind of a potion, shouldn't it?"

_Smile and nod, Naruto, smile and nod._ He did just that.

"And how about the charms exam? I personally think it was pretty easy. The practical on the other hand…"

"Harry!" Naruto shouted upon the arrival of his friend. _Now she's got somebody else to bother! YAY!_

This seemed to work in his favour as Hermione turned to the latest addition to their conversation and looked as if she was about to speak, but was interrupted by the dark-haired boy.

"Dumbledore's gone." He proclaimed breathlessly.

Naruto gave him a quizzical look. From the corner of his eye he could see Hermione do the same.

"McGonagall told me the ministry called him in for some reason." He caught his breath. "Snape's going to go for the stone tonight."

"We have to tell a teach-"

"I already told McGonagall. She said not worry and that the stone is safe." Harry interrupted.

The three shared a grimace.

"I'm going after it." Harry declared.

He was responded with two are-you-freaking-crazy looks.

"Harry, I know you feel kind of helpless, but this is-is…"

"Crazy?" Naruto supplied.

The dark-haired boy glared. "Well, what do you expect me to do? Nothing? I can't do that!"

"You're being paranoid, Harry. Snape-" Hermione started only to be cut off.

"-Is going to steal the stone. Unless I steal it first."

"Whoa. Hold up. 'I steal it first?'" Naruto frowned. "You're not really thinking of doing that alone; are you?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah…"

"Don't be stupid!" Hermione very nearly shouted. Naruto nodded.

"If you go, I go." Harry looked ready to protest but seeing the look on Naruto's face decided against it.

Hermione then whirled on Naruto.

"Nobody should go! This is for teachers."

"Teachers won't do anything until it's too late." Harry replied without doubt.

Hermione gave a sigh. "Fine. Then I'll come too."

This time it was Naruto's turn to protest, but she immediately cut him off. "If one of us goes, we all go."

Harry stayed silent for a minute before speaking. "What about Ron?"

Naruto shrugged. "He deserves to know just as much as the rest of us." Hi sighed. "I guess I'll go tell him."

The plan was set. They were going to steal the Philosopher's Stone. And they might not even live.

Naruto owed it to himself to give one last sarcastic thought.

_For some reason, I've got a _bad_ feeling about this. _

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_  
_**There you go. Once again, I apologize for its shortness. In all honesty, I could have gone more into detail of character development, plot development and all that but…I kind of rushed it off. What I can promise is that the summer is going to be a lot more fleshed out and second year will be a 70k Word minimum. **

'**Till next time.**


End file.
